Vandread: The Unknown Soldier, Revised
by Ian Bekker
Summary: COMPLETE Before I add the sequel , I'm giving you the revised edition of The Unknown Soldier. Some of the revisions include: longer chapters, error corrections, and small changes in plotline. Read the original summary for info on the fic. Updated!
1. Prologue: Evacuation

Disclaimer: I don't own Vandread, Gonzo does.

Author's Notes: This is a revised edition of The Unknown Soldier. I am doing this to correct errors and to modify it to further improve on it and possibly to make several of the shorter chapters longer. There might be a few changes in the plotline, but nothing too drastic as to change the entire outcome of the story, though.

**Vandread: The Unknown Soldier (Revised)**

**Prologue: Evacuation**

_Location: Space Station Gloria, in orbit around Solaris_

The station's alarms were blaring their harsh tones throughout the corridors, but Captain Aidan Mercer hardly noticed them as he rapidly scanned the area for threats. He had been originally assigned to escort and protect the Prime Minister and his daughter, Maria. By the time he arrived, the Minister had already been killed. He took out the two soldiers that were about to kill Maria. He then told her that she needed to get off the space station, which now was almost totally overrun by enemy soldiers. They were to head for the space docks and get securely aboard the S.D.S Artemis, an Essex Class frigate belonging to the Solaris Federation. It would immediately jump out system and rendezvous with the rest of the fleet.

"Hurry up!" he shouted to Maria, who was beginning to slow down due to fatigue. "This is no time to rest."

"I know that!" she shot back, panting from running.

Suddenly, the threat indicator installed into his suit's helmet warned him of four approaching hostiles. They were heading towards their location, so he had to do something quick. He quickly grabbed Maria and shoved her into the nearest room. He looked around and found a spacesuit and tossed it to her. "Put this on."

"Alright…" she said in a shaky voice as she started to don the suit.

Just as she finished putting on the suit, he pulled her from the room. She cradled the helmet in her arms. "Get behind me," he commanded. She nodded and did so. The enemy soldiers had just turned the corridor. Aidan raised his rifle and squeezed the trigger. Several rounds spat from the rifle and slammed into the first man, who seemed a little too eager and didn't check for any threats to himself. Aidan fired again as the first soldier collapsed in an expanding pool of blood. The others were a little smarter and ducked behind the cover of the corner. Glancing at the view ports on the right side of the corridor, he suddenly got an idea.

"Hold onto to something," he told Maria as he aimed his rifle at the view port. He fired the underslung grenade launcher on his rifle. The single high-explosive armor-piercing grenade was more than enough to almost shatter the armored glass. Suddenly, he rocked backward as several slugs struck him in the right side. He slammed his armored fist down hard on a large button and the bulkhead in front him immediately sealed off the area. He knew what the soldiers were going to experience next. The effects of explosive decompression were not pretty, and he knew they were experiencing it firsthand.

"Captain, are you alright?" Maria asked, concern evident in her voice as she saw that he got shot.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said. "Didn't penetrate the armor."

He motioned for her to continue moving. It took them a few minutes before they managed to reach the place where the Artemis was docked. They had to go through several corridors to get there, with Aidan gunning down any more rebel soldiers that got in the way. Once they got there, they noticed a group of SDF soldiers in a shootout with the rebels, who held the main control room for the docking controls. He motioned for Maria to duck behind the cover of one the stacks of metal crates.

"Who's in charge here?" Aidan asked the men as he took cover with them as well.

"I am," the soldier to his left spoke up. "Sergeant Jacob Masters."

"Captain Aidan Mercer, Special Forces," he informed Masters as he lifted the visor of his helmet. "What's the situation?"

"Well, sir, the rebels have holed up in the control center for the docks," he answered. "We can't pry them out."

Aidan went over the situation in his head and got an idea. "I have a plan. I want at least one of your soldiers to guard Miss Shakov. I'll take a couple of men and charge their position while the rest of you provide covering fire."

"Roger that," Masters replied and moved off to give orders to his men.

"Alright, he motioned for the two soldiers nearest him. "You will follow on my order. Now!"

Aidan got up and charged the rebel position, with the two soldiers following right behind him. The first rebel soldier attempted to raise his weapon to fire, but took a bullet in the chest instead. The others were forced to take cover as the soldiers behind cover started pouring cover fire to assist Aidan and his ad hoc team. Another rebel soldier took a few rounds to the chest and pitched over backwards. Aidan suddenly found himself face-to-face with a frightened enemy soldier. Before the soldier could do anything, Aidan drove his armored fist into the man's abdomen, knocking the air out of him. The soldier collapsed onto his knees, clutching his stomach and gasping for breath. Another punch to the face knocked him out. He walked up to the door punched in the access code. The door refused to open, remaining locked. One of the soldiers with him pulled a breaching charge from the rucksack he was carrying. Placing it on the door, he set the timer for fifteen seconds. Aidan and the two men quickly backed away from the door as the charge blew it open. One of the soldiers pulled the pin on a smoke grenade and tossed it into the room. The room began to fill with a thick, white smoke, making it hard to breathe as well as see for anyone in there. Activating his helmet's thermal sensors, he charged into the room.

He gunned down the first soldier with his handgun, then a second, as they could not see him very well to retaliate. The smoke started to clear now, and out of the corner of his eye he noticed one last soldier. He squeezed the trigger, but all he got was a clicking sound. _Damn, out of ammo!_ It was then he noticed a laser pistol on the floor to his left. The rebel started to recover from the effects of the smoke, and leveled his rifle at Aidan. Before the soldier could react any further, Aidan threw himself into a rolling dive, and avoided a single laser bolt that seared past where he used to be.

Picking up the pistol, he twisted into a squat ball and planted his right foot and pivoted toward the rebel, who was just now correcting his aim. Two cracks split the air, and the soldier with the rifle clutched his chest and fell face first to the ground, his weapon clattering to the deck. Aidan suddenly felt a searing pain in his left leg before the painkillers were administered from his suit's medpack, effectively numbing the pain. When he looked down, he noticed the laser had only grazed him, but had heated up the armor where it hit, slightly burning him. He knew he was going to be feeling that later.

"Area secure," he announced, and picked the laser rifle that the dead soldier dropped.

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"What in the bloody hell is takin' them so long?" Hector Cranston, Captain of the Solaris Defense Ship Artemis, barked to his comm operator.

"They got held up by the docks by a group of rebel soldiers," the operator replied, seemingly unfazed by the Captain's outburst.

"Damn, Earth-lovin' rebel bastards!" he snarled.

"Captain, the target is safely onboard," Aidan's voice rang throughout the bridge.

"Very well, Major," Cranston replied. He did not make a mistake of addressing Aidan by a rank higher than he actually held. Tradition among the fleet dictated that there be only one captain aboard ship at any one time. Everyone else who held the rank, especially ground-pounders, were given the honorary and very temporary rank of major.

"Helmsman, undock and take engines to full, we are getting the hell out of here," he ordered.

"Aye sir, undock and engines to full," the helmsman confirmed the order and did as such.

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Maria could feel the deck lurch slightly under her feet as the ship engaged its massive engines and undocked from the space station. She took off the helmet to her spacesuit, allowing her violet hair fall down to her shoulders. She let out a sigh of relief and looked at Aidan, who was standing off to her left side with a laser rifle slung over his shoulder and a laser pistol in his left hand. There was a barely audible hiss as Aidan lifted the visor of his helmet. He checked the power pack in the handgrip of the pistol and then tossed it her. It almost fumbled out of her hands as she caught it.

"What's this for?" she asked dryly.

"For your protection, you may need it," he answered in a flat tone.

She gave him a hard glance, and he just stared back at her, showing no hint of emotion. She then looked down at the pistol in her hands, then back at him. She opened to her mouth to speak, but was interrupted when the ship rocked violently. She was thrown off her feet, and she felt her head hit the deck and the blackness that followed a few seconds later.

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"What in the bloody hell was that!" Cranston cursed as another hammer blow struck the ship.

"Sir! An enemy cruiser has locked its weapons onto us, they are preparing to fire again!" the tech replied in an almost frightened tone.

"Dammit! Charge the jump drives, we're getting' the hell outta here!" he bellowed.

"Yes sir," the tech replied shakily. "It will take a couple of minutes."

"We don't a have a couple of minutes," Cranston barked, although there was nothing he could do about it.

"Sir, the enemy is launching fighters," the sensor tech replied, his voice surprisingly calm despite the grave news he'd just delivered.

"Well, launch the Strikers to intercept them," he ordered.

"We can't sir," the damage control officer replied.

"Why in the hell not?" he barked at the man.

"That last hit welded the hangar door shut," the officer said. "They are unable to launch."

"Well, Dammit!" he cursed as he slammed his fist down on the arm of his command chair.

"Sir!" a worried female tech shouted. "We have intruders onboard the ship, the enemy has boarded the Artemis!"

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A few seconds before Maria hit the ground, Aidan started to lose his footing. He caught himself before he could fall. He picked Maria up gently, her petite form not weighing that much as he moved her over and laid her on an empty bunk. He immediately heard an alarm sound throughout the ship.

"_Intruder Alert! Intruder Alert! All hands stand by to repel boarders!"_ the computerized female voice sounded throughout the corridor.

He unslung his rifle and headed out of the room. Before he moved away from the door, he programmed the door to lock to prevent anyone from getting in. He ran down the corridor and noticed various bodies of crewmembers laid out on the deck, some in positions only the dead could seem to achieve. He immediately saw two rebel soldiers heading away from him, chasing down another unarmed crewmember. Aidan dropped to one knee and took aim at the rebel farthest from him and fired.

The laser bolt struck the man in the back and knocked him heavily to the deck. The other rebel turned, but was too slow for Aidan's quick reflexes, and took a blast straight through his head, killing him instantly. Aidan got up and continued to search for any intruders. When he found them, he mercilessly killed them, even though they used to be his fellow countrymen. Although he didn't consider them to be that anymore.

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Hector Cranston fought back a wave of darkness as he struggled to bring himself to his feet. Just about the time he was about to give the order to jump, the main lift that leads to the bridge erupted into a huge fireball, vaporizing one the techs unlucky to be in front of it. It had thrown him heavily to the deck, hitting his head on one of the console panels, gashing it open. He fought another wave of blackness as he struggled to make it over to the jump controls. Once he got there, he used most of his remaining strength to shove aside the dead helmsman. After a moment in which he shifted between consciousness and unconsciousness, he managed to activate the jump drives. A loud raucous horn sounded throughout the ship, although he couldn't hear it, or anything else for that matter.

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As Aidan cut down the last intruder, a loud raucous horn sounded throughout the corridors. He knew in less than a minute the Artemis, or what was left of it, would jump into a safe, friendly system and out of this hellhole. Another hit rocked the ship, and a panel from the ceiling came loose and hit him squarely in the back, knocking him to the deck. He could feel that his left shoulder was dislocated by the hit.

"Shit," he gasped as he tried in vain to get back on his feet. Then suddenly a nauseous wave of light and sound slammed over him. The universe expanded around him and he was hit with almost physical force by another wave of light and sound. As quickly as it came, it was gone. He finally succumbed to the pain and fell into unconsciousness.

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This is just the beginning of the revised edition; let me know what you think about


	2. Chapter One: Encounter

Disclaimer: As you all know, I don't own Vandread.

**Vandread: The Unknown Soldier (Revised)**

**Chapter One: Encounter**

_Location: Outside the Magnetic Storm. On the edge of Tarakian/Mejalian space._

Vibrations shook her Dread as several shots from a cube-type enemy battered her shields. Meia cursed silently under her breath as she brought her fighter in a turn that would allow her to gun down the enemy that shot at her. She blasted it into several hundred pieces with her Dread's lasers once she acquired a lock. She turned left to avoid a shot from one of the larger enemies that opened fire on her. She shifted her controls and it brought her straight at her attacker. Several missiles streaked out from her Dread as soon as she had a lock. The enemy ship buckled and exploded as several high explosive warheads detonated against its hull.

Just a few weeks after that final battle that saved both Mejale and Tarak, they had detected a large amount of enemy stragglers near the magnetic storm. Hibiki and the other men had been recalled from their trip to Tarak to assist in the mission to hunt them down and destroy them. After all, the crew of the Nirvana had the most experience in fighting the Earth forces, so it was chosen to hunt down and destroy them. She had no qualms about that, and they'd receive no mercy for what they had done to countless millions. They were now in the process of wiping the last of them from this system.

"That's the last of them!" Dita cheerfully shouted over the commline as the last enemy cube was destroyed. Hibiki didn't participate completely in this mission, due to the fact that his arm was still broken.

Meia relaxed back into her seat and let out a sigh of relief. "Good, now let's return back to the Nirvana."

"Copy that," Dita and the others replied.

As she turned her Dread back around and started to make her way back to the Nirvana, something caught her eye. As she looked over to see what it might be, a bright flash filled the area around them as a large ship suddenly stretched into reality.

"What in the world is that!" Jura asked over the commline to no one in particular.

"I don't know," she replied as she headed towards the ship. "But we're going to find out."

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"Captain…"

"Captain…"

"Aidan…"

Aidan slowly returned to consciousness after hearing a woman's voice. His vision blurred, he looked up to see a young woman with dark, shoulder-length hair, backlit by the red glow of the emergency lights.

"Sakura…" he muttered as he attempted to lift himself up. He collapsed back to the deck as he realized his left arm had refused to move. He felt only a slight linger of pain, as the painkillers injected into him were starting to wear off. From the way it looked, his left arm must have been dislocated. He forced himself into a sitting position, and then to a standing one. His vision started to clear, and he noticed the woman who had spoken was Maria, not Sakura.

After he managed to get his feet firmly planted on the deck, she let out a sigh of relief. "Good, you're okay."

He ignored her as grabbed a hold of his left shoulder with his right hand and forced his shoulder back into its socket. A wave of pain surged through his arm as feeling came back to it, but was quickly suppressed by another injection of painkillers. The sound of him putting his shoulder back into place made Maria cringe as she heard it. He flexed his arm for a couple of seconds, to make sure it was okay, then went over and picked up the laser rifle he'd dropped when he was knocked unconscious.

"Come on," he said, motioning for Maria.

"Sure," she replied, following him down the corridor. "Where are we going?"

"To the bridge," he said quietly.

They continued to walk for a few minutes, Maria following silently behind, until they got to the mangled doors that lead to the bridge. Apparently the doors were damaged in an explosion, and wouldn't open. Aidan backed slightly away from the doors, then knocked them down with a solid kick. The doors hit the ground with a loud bang, and they walked into the bridge. Once she stepped foot in the bridge, she covered her mouth and became white in the face. She turned away, sickened by the sight in front of her.

The bridge pretty much lay in ruins, and a good portion of it was slicked with blood. Several bodies lay in twisted or huddled heaps on the floor, although some were slumped over control panels. The fresh smell of death ranked throughout the place, and she nearly threw up. She looked over at Aidan, who had settled his face in a grim mask. He apparently noticed something, and walked over to it, stepping over a body as if it were nothing more than a log in his way. He knelt down by what appeared to be the body of the Captain. He laid there, face down, with a pool of blood around his head.

"He's dead," Aidan replied flatly, stating the obvious.

He got up and walked over to the communications console. Slumped over the console was a young woman about the age of nineteen, the same age when Sakura… He banished the painful memory before it even materialized in his mind, and pushed the corpse aside and checked the console to see if it still worked. It appeared to be in working order, and he decided to try and send out a distress signal. He took off his helmet and set it down on the console, and grabbed the headset and put it on. He started to broadcast a message, and after a couple more tries the console fried and shot sparks into the air.

"Dammit!" he cursed as he took off the headset and threw it down. "It doesn't work." He looked out the view port to notice the large silhouette of a silver ship in the center.

"What the hell…"

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As she took another pass around the ship, Meia scanned every major detail she could find out about it. By the several gun ports that ran the length of the vessel, she knew it was a warship. Judging by the several scorch and pockmarks, that it had seen battle very recently, and apparently was on the losing side. The most distinctive detail she saw on it was a large insignia painted on the side of it. The insignia showed a silver, armored knight's gauntlet grasping a double-edge sword in front of a blue and black shield. Underneath the insignia was the designation, S.D.S Artemis.

By now there were several questions running through her head. Questions like: 'Where did it come from?' 'Who did it fight?' 'Was it the Earth fleet?' And the final question, 'Were there any survivors?' She activated her communications system.

"Captain, I'd like permission to board the vessel and search for survivors," she requested.

"Granted," came back the reply. "But hold on a minute, I'm sending over some help."

"Understood," she acknowledged.

As she passed by what appeared to be the bridge of the ship, she thought she saw someone standing near the view port.

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As Aidan saw the silver fighter make a pass, he started to think. That fighter didn't match any known model or configuration employed in the Solaris Defense Force or the rebel military. Whoever it was, they would soon board the ship, and that would make things worse than they already were. He wasn't about to take any chances.

He turned around and faced Maria. "We're going to have visitors."

"Who are they?" she asked.

"I don't know," he responded.

He walked over to the central computer on the bridge and attempted to activate it. Surprisingly, it still worked. He picked up a data disc and inserted it into the computer. He brought up every file that pertained to the history of Solaris, technology, weapons, etcetera, and downloaded them onto the disc. It took him a few minutes, and he took out the disc as soon as he was done. He then began to insert a virus that would purge almost every last piece of information stored in the database.

Once he was finished with that, he unsung his rifle and fired his three remaining shots into the computer. There was a shower of sparks as the computer was completely fried. Satisfied, he inserted the disc into a special pouch built into his suit. Discarding the rifle, he picked up his helmet and walked over to Maria. He put a hand on her shoulder, trying to help calm her down.

"I want you to stay here," he said as he walked past her. "And stay out of sight."

"What are you going to do?" she asked.

"I'm going to go greet our guests," he said as he put on his helmet.

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As she slowly walked down the corridor, Meia glanced briefly into one of the rooms, but saw no one. To her it felt like an abandoned ship, as it appeared no one was left alive onboard. So far, the few crewmembers they'd found were already dead.

"All this death, who could have done this?" she quietly asked herself.

"Did you say something?" Jura asked.

"No," she replied as something caught her eye. She quickly walked over and saw another dead body, and this time it was a woman's. She appeared to have been shot in the back by a laser weapon, and there a pool of blood underneath her. She turned her over to see a look of horror on the dead woman's face.

"Oh my…" Jura gasped as she clasped her hands over her mouth.

Meia wanted to do the same, but instead locked her face into an impassive mask. She had to be the strong leader type that everyone saw her as. Then she noticed the bodies of what appeared to be soldiers. One lay face first on the ground with a hole in his back. The second was leaning against the wall with a shattered helmet. Mercifully, she couldn't see inside the helmet, not that she wanted to.

_What happened on this ship?_

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Aidan slowly walked down the corridor, not wanting to draw any attention to himself, yet. He knew the intruders were somewhere on this deck, and it was only a matter of time before he found them. He continued to move forward until he heard a noise. Stopping dead in his tracks, he tried to determine where it came from. He flipped up a panel on his forearm and pressed a few buttons until the word 'Optical Camouflage' appeared. He pressed the activation stud and his suit seemed to blend in with its surroundings, becoming almost completely invisible. This wasn't foolproof however, as he could be picked up on advanced detection equipment and could be seen as a distortion if he moved rapidly. He thumbed off the safety to his handgun and grinned. The intruders would learn why he had earned the codename 'Spectre.'

He moved closer to the noises, which he knew was the sound of someone walking down the corridor. He crept closer to the corner and looked over to see a scantily-clad young woman walking down the corridor. He noticed that she appeared younger than him, but that hardly registered in his mind once his gaze fell down to her waist. She had a firearm in a holster on her right side. _She's probably searching for survivors, little does she know, she's going to find one._

_She's not military, she must be something else, a pirate._ As the thought dawned on him he aimed his weapon down the corridor and activated the laser sight. The red dot centered on her chest, and his finger started to tighten on the trigger.

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Barnette cautiously walked down one of the many dark corridors of this warship, searching for survivors, if there were any. She continued to advance down the corridor, but stopped in her tracks. It suddenly felt like she was being watched, she looked around but saw no one.

"Hello…" she said, "Anybody there?"

That was when she noticed the little red dot on the center of her chest. She knew what it was, it was a targeting laser for a gun. She immediately dove to her right as the sound of gunfire echoed in the corridor. She winced in pain as the bullet grazed her left arm. She freed her firearm from its holster as quickly as possible, and fired in the direction of the where the shots came from, but she neither hit nor saw anyone. Then the air appeared to come violently to life as a ghostly figure moved rapidly towards her.

"What the hell is this!" she blurted out, her fear starting to manifest itself.

She fired again, this time aiming at the ghostlike figure, and to her surprise, actually recoiled slightly from the hits. It was then she figured out that this wasn't a ghost, but something else. Her shots didn't stop the figure as got closer to her. She attempted to fire, but her hand was knocked away, sending the shot bouncing off the side of the corridor wall. Before she could react any further, she felt a sharp pain to her abdomen as the air was knocked out of her. She fell to her knees, dropping her gun as she clutched her stomach in pain. Once she could breathe again, she looked up to see a black figure slowly reappear in front of her eyes. The armored figure was now pointing a gun to her head.

"Identify yourself," the figure said, it's voice cold and impersonal.

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	3. Chapter Two: Standoff

Disclaimer: Vandread is not mine, it is Gonzo's.

**Vandread: The Unknown Soldier (Revised)**

**Chapter Two: Standoff**

_Location: S.D.S Artemis, Main Deck_

Meia immediately dashed towards where she heard the gunshots, with Jura only a step behind her. The gunshots had come from the Barnette's last known location. It took her a few moments to get over there, and when she got there, she was somewhat shocked at what she saw. Barnette was on her knees, holding her stomach, and a black, armored figure was standing over her, pointing a gun at her head.

"No! Barnette!" Jura screamed as she drew he saber and charged the black figure. The figure noticed her, and turned his attention from Barnette to meet this new, rapidly approaching threat. He raised his gun and took aim at her, but before he could fire, Jura knocked it out of his hands with a swing from her saber. The gun clattered when it bounced off the wall and onto the ground. Determined to keep him off-guard, Meia raised her right arm and fired her laser ring. Her aim was dead-on, with both shots hitting him high in the chest, knocking him slightly back.

As the figure regained his footing, she noticed that neither of her shots had penetrated the armor. Jura attacked again, and with what surely would have been a decapitating blow, but the figure raised his right arm and let the blade strike his armored gauntlet with a loud clanging sound. In an unexpected move, the figure grabbed a hold of the blade and yanked it towards him, forcing it from her hand. Meia barely saw the kick that struck Jura in the stomach and knocked her off her feet.

Still gripping the blade, the figure flipped it around to where he had a grip on the handle. He charged to her left then bolted to the right in a feint. She aimed her laser and fired again, but hit nothing. The figure was right next to her, and using Jura's saber, he took a swing at her, but she ducked just in time to see the blade flash in front of her face. It wasn't one of those clumsy swings an amateur would do, but that of a professional. This person apparently knew how to swordfight as well.

"He fast!" she exclaimed as she dodged another strike, this time ducking under and using her momentum to shift behind him. She kicked him in the back of the knees, which buckled and he fell to the deck, dropping the sword in the process. She jumped onto his back to pin him down and pointed her laser at the back of his head.

"Who are you and why'd you attack us?" she demanded as she pinned him to the ground.

"Why would I tell you, _pirate_?" he spat. To Meia it sounded like he'd just said a curse. Were pirates really that bad wherever he came from? Almost immediately after he answered, he used his weight to knock her off of him. He then grabbed her arm and pinned her to the ground, and she could feel her arm starting to hurt. She managed to look up into his faceless visor, and suddenly half the visor seemed to shatter. There was a loud bang following immediately after, and he released his grip on her arm and staggered back. She got up to see Barnette shoot him a few more times, and he almost fell off his feet, but managed to stay standing, clutching the shattered side of his helmet.

Barnette walked over to him to deliver the final shot, and that was a mistake. The figure suddenly lashed out and knocked the gun from her hands. He then grabbed her injured left arm and twisted her around, pulling her arm behind her back and shoving her forward. She lost her balance and fell forward onto the deck. As she struggled to get up, the figure picked up her gun and put it to her head as she got to her knees. Slowly, his finger started to tighten on the trigger.

"Captain Aidan Mercer, I command you to stand down!" commanded an unfamiliar female voice.

Slowly, he eased up on the trigger, and lowered the gun. He then brought it up and ejected the magazine, and pulled back the slide to eject the round already in the firing chamber. He tossed the gun in Barnette's direction and it clattered against the deck. He turned to the woman who told him to stand down, who had just started walking his way. He unhooked something at the collar of his suit and removed his battered helmet. He walked over to where his gun was on the ground and picked it up, helmet still in his left hand. Holstering it, he walked over to the violet-haired woman.

The man known as Aidan Mercer had short, dark brown hair. He was what could be known as handsome, except a cross-shaped scar that marred the left side of his face. When she saw his eyes, they were a cold, steel gray. He began to have an argument with the woman, apparently unconcerned with the blood running down the right side of his face.

Suddenly, Dita came up to where this awkward event was playing out. Apparently, sensing she might be another threat, Aidan quickly drew his gun and aimed it at her. Dita jumped slightly back, frightened for a moment that a stranger would shoot her. He noticed her cower and lowered his gun, this time keeping a grip on it. Meia watched him warily, because he still could be a threat. Suddenly, she remembered about Barnette and Jura. Jura, who had been knocked unconscious, was just beginning to regain consciousness. Barnette was still struggling to rise after he had shoved her to the deck. She went over and helped Barnette to her feet.

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BC watched as Parfet went over the main computer terminal down in the engine room, and considered for a moment. She didn't like the fact that this ship appeared almost out of nowhere and it was unknown who it belonged to. The only information they had found so far was the apparent name of the vessel as well as some kind of insignia.

"It's no good," Parfet shrugged. "The entire ship's data core appears to have purged by some kind of virus, and the data that remains is so corrupted that I don't think that I can salvage any of it."

BC nodded and brought the communicator up to her mouth. "Captain, the ship's data core and memory banks have been purged or corrupted, we are unable to find anymore information about this ship or it's origin. The only things we do know are the sword and shield insignia painted on it's hull and the ship's name, Artemis."

"Very well, continue your search and report if you find anything," came the Captain's reply.

"Understood," BC confirmed.

Meia's voice came over the communications link a few seconds later. "Meia here, we found a couple of survivors, and one of them wasn't happy to see us. He surrendered, but he says there are no more survivors. He appears to be a soldier."

"What's your location?" BC asked.

"Wait a second," she replied. After a short pause, she came back on. I think we're on the main deck, not too far from the bridge."

"Stay there, we'll be up there in a minute," BC said.

"Understood," she replied.

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Aidan stood right beside Maria with his arms crossed as he watched two more of these pirates approach them. He hated being told what to do by people who were decidedly not military. She had him remove the magazine from his handgun. The armor was an advanced design recently developed by the Solaris Defense Force, and he'd be damned before he'd let one of these pirates touch it. The black armor was moderately thick and the only exposed areas were the joints.

"And who are you two?" the woman with silver hair asked.

"I'm Maria Shakov, and this is-" she was interrupted by Aidan's reply to the question.

"Aidan Mercer," he replied stoically. "Rank, Captain. Soldier of the Solaris Defense Force."

She nodded and glanced over in the direction where the green-haired woman was helping the blonde one to her feet. "Looks like you put up a fight."

He allowed himself a smirk when she said that, but said nothing.

"Okay, I have a lot of questions to ask you," she said. "We noticed this ship was heavily damaged, was it Earth that attacked you?"

Aidan let out a short, sharp laugh. "No, it wasn't the Earthers that did this, it was our own people."

"Your own people?" this time it was the blue-haired woman who asked.

"Yes," he said as he made eye contact with her. "We are in the middle of a civil war."

"Are you the captain of the ship?" the red-haired girl interjected.

"No, I'm what you spacers refer to as a ground-pounder," he replied.

"This ship appears to be dead, I'd like to salvage anything of use off of it," BC said.

"Good idea," Maria said, "Captain Mercer can help you."

Aidan was about to protest, but apparently they were outnumbered and in an unknown system. Cooperation might be the best thing, considering he was going to have to keep this young woman who can think she can tell him what to do because of who her father was, alive. "Fine, I give my word that I will not instigate any conflict with members of your crew, provided they do not start anything, and will help recover anything salvageable."

It took a few moments for that one woman to answer. "Very well," she said. Then she gave out orders to the rest of them to recover anything they could from the areas she assigned them. Then she turned to Meia. "I want you to go with Captain Mercer and recover as many weapons from the armory as possible. And keep an eye on him."

"Understood," Meia replied as she aimed her laser ring carefully at him. "Lead the way."

Aidan started walking down the corridor, at a normal pace, so she wouldn't think he'd try anything. He knew they had to get down to one of the lower decks that the armory was on, and he gave his word he wouldn't do anything, and if nothing else, he was a man of his word. He glanced back at the woman, who was still pointing her laser ring weapon at him.

"There's no need for that," he said, gesturing slightly to her weapon.

"Why should I believe you?" she replied. "You tried to kill me and a few of my pilots."

"Because I gave my word that I wouldn't, and that was because I thought you to be an enemy," he said. "Our ship was boarded not long before we arrived in this system, so I was under the impression that you were here to raid the ship. After all, you guys are pirates, are you not?"

"How'd you figure out?" she asked.

"Well, it was pretty easy considering one of your pilots wasn't wearing a uniform, so I knew you weren't with any military," he replied as he stopped in front of the armory doors. "And no civilians would have a warship or a squadron of fighters under their command. But you don't act like pirates. We're here."

"How so?" she asked as he typed in the access code to the armory, and there was a hiss as the doors started to open.

"Well, for starters, most pirates would shoot first and ask questions later, and they rarely take prisoners. So if you were like the pirates I've faced before, you'd have killed me already."

Then, the doors jammed halfway, locking in place and refusing to open any further. Aidan typed in the code again, but nothing happened.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"It's jammed," he said as he slammed his fist against the panel, breaking it. He walked over and grabbed a hold of the door and began to pull.

"Meia, was it?" he asked. "Could you give me a hand?"

"Alright," she said as she walked over to the other door and grabbed a hold of it.

As if on cue, they both pulled on the doors, which started to move, but strongly resisted. Then suddenly, the doors just opened, throwing Meia off-balance. He caught himself, and reached out and caught her before she fell. Her eyes locked onto his, and for a moment he thought back to some of his past memories. He helped her to her feet, and promptly let go of her.

"Thanks," she said quietly.

"No problem," he replied as he turned and walked into the armory.

Aidan looked into the armory, which housed almost enough weapons for a small army. Some were missing, probably taken by the ship's marines to defend it. There was rack upon rack, of rifles, shotguns and various other shipboard weapons. Most of the weapons were models that were used so they would not penetrate the bulkhead and decompress the whole area. He walked over and picked up a bullpup assault rifle, one where it had the ammunition magazine behind the handgrip, instead of in front. He turned to Meia.

"This is a Solaris Arms SA23 'Raptor' Automatic Rifle, standard issue weapon for the Solaris Defense Force." He knew they wouldn't be able to take every single weapon with them. After they had finished packing up several of the weapons, Aidan lifted a couple of duffel bags, as well as one slung around his shoulder. He saw Meia pick up a couple more, and it appeared she was having very little trouble lifting them.

"We should get these to the shuttle," she said.

"Not yet," he said. "We still have a few more places to go."

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About fifteen minutes later, they arrived at the bridge. Aidan had stopped by his quarters and grabbed some clothes and what few personal effects he had onboard. When they entered the bridge, a pungent stench filled the room. She could place it as only one thing, the stench of death. When she looked over at Aidan, he appeared not be affected by the smell. He set his bags down and walked to the center of the bridge. He nudged aside a dead crewman with his foot and reached down and grabbed onto to something and pulled it up out of the floor. It was cylindrical in shape, and to Meia it appeared to be some kind of computer terminal. He began typing in something, and a computerized female voice sounded throughout the bridge.

"_Voice Identification Required."_

"Mercer, Aidan. Rank, Captain. 4th Special Forces Detachment, Death's Grenadiers."

"_Identification Confirmed. Authorization Code Required."_

"Alpha-Delta Niner. Zeta Mark Four."

"_Authorization Code Confirmed. Self-Destruct System Activated. Vessel will self-destruct in T-minus fifteen minutes."_

"What have you done?" she exclaimed. "Deactivate it now!"

"I can't, only the ship's captain and his second-in command have that capability," he replied.

"Then how could you activate it?" she asked, starting to feel a little worried, but not showing it.

"I was given authority because of mission security," he replied.

"Mission security?" she asked, a little puzzled.

"I'll explain later," he said as he picked up the duffel bags. "Don't you think it's about time we got off this dead hulk of a ship?"

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Revised Chapter Two complete. Feedback appreciated.


	4. Chapter Three: Revelations

Disclaimer: It is Gonzo that owns Vandread, not me.

**Vandread: The Unknown Soldier (Revised)**

**Chapter Three: Revelations**

_Location: Bridge, Nirvana._

"Massive energy spike detected!" came Belvedere's alarmed shout. "And it's coming from that unidentified ship!"

"What in the hell is happening!" Magno fairly blurted out, shock edging slightly into her voice.

"It appears the engines of the ship are overloading," Amarone put in. "At this rate, they will explode, and destroy everything within a five hundred meter radius."

"Ezra, contact BC and the others," Magno ordered. "Tell them to get off the ship immediately."

After several failed attempts, Ezra reported to the Captain. "Captain, there is a huge amount of magnetic interference coming from the ship's engines, I'm unable to contact them."

Everyone looked outside to see a ball of light expand from the rear of the ship. It expanded until it engulfed the entire vessel, releasing a massive amount of energy in the process. A few seconds later, the light faded and all that was left of that ship were nothing but several small scraps of debris.

"Captain," Ezra said. "The Commander reports that everyone, including the survivors, made it safely away from the ship."

Magno let out a sigh of relief, as she was glad they had made it off in time. But there were several questions still unanswered, and she wanted those answers. She was going to have to ask the survivors, whoever they were.

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Aidan watched from one of the shuttle's view ports as the massive ball of light that used to be a proud fighting ship, the Artemis, faded back into the cold, black abyss known as space. He continued to stare blankly out the view port until the image of a young woman with shoulder-length raven black hair and striking green eyes flashed into his mind.

"Sakura…" he whispered, tightly clenching his fists.

"Did you say something?" a deep male voice sounded behind him. He slowly turned around and saw a man with long black hair facing him.

"No… it's nothing," he replied.

"Duero McFile," he said as he held out his hand.

"Aidan Mercer," he identified himself as he accepted Duero's handshake. From his appearance, Duero appeared to be a medic, as was evident by the red cross on his jacket. Duero was also slightly taller than him, somewhere between fifteen and twenty centimeters.

"If I may ask, why did you activate that ship's self-destruct system?" Duero asked.

_More questions?_ he thought wearily. "Operational security," he replied after a short silence.

"Operational security? Care to explain?" Duero asked, probing for more information.

Before he could answer that, he felt a slight jolt. They just now docked with the large, silver ship, and would be debarking soon.

"I'll explain later," he said as he moved past Duero and picked up a couple of drab green duffel bags.

Several moments later, they disembarked from the shuttle. As he descended down the ramp, he noticed pretty much the whole crew was gathered around the shuttle, wanting to take a look at the survivors, no doubt. It also occurred to him that the majority of the crew were women, but he noticed a couple of men down there as well. He suddenly felt out of place in a place that seemed out of place.

"Wow…" Maria said in amazement as she reached the bottom of the ramp. Aidan remained quiet as he planted his feet firmly on the deck. He scanned around and noticed an old woman approaching to where they now stood. She started talking to the silver-haired woman that he'd seen on the Artemis. From what he could tell, those were the two in command. He glanced around and noticed the same dark-haired woman glaring daggers at him. He turned to face the old woman as she addressed him.

"Tell me, young man, what is your name?" she asked.

"Captain Aidan Mercer," he replied, stating his rank and name.

"So you're a soldier, eh?" she surmised, as she glanced at his armor. "Well then, Captain Mercer, there are several questions I'd like to ask you, but maybe you should head down to the infirmary first," she said, gesturing to the now dry blood on his face. "I'll send someone to come and get you later."

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Down in the infirmary, Aidan had insisted that Duero check up on Maria first, even though he had what appeared to be more serious wounds. He stood there, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. Duero had just finished checking up on Maria.

"Nothing serious, just a bump on the head," he said, and looked over at Aidan. "Now let's take a look at you."

"Fine," Aidan said as pushed himself into a standing position. He tapped a button on the left forearm of his personal armor. There was a hiss as the suit depressurized. He reached up and unhooked the lock on the left shoulder. He repeated it on the right. After that, he unhooked the lock on the collar of his suit. The chest armor unhinged and he pulled his arms out of the suit. Then using his arms, he pulled his legs out of the lower half of the armor. He was dressed only in a lightweight sensor mesh, which would allow the monitoring of his vitals as well as help administer painkillers.

"Now, let's take a look at your wounds," Duero said.

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About half an hour later, Duero had finished tending to his wounds. According to Duero, he had a few cuts on the side of his head, due the fact that a part of the visor actually shattered when it was shot. He was lucky he didn't lose his right eye. There were also some minor burns that had come from when his leg was shot with a laser rifle. There were a few small bruises here and there, as well. He also felt lingering pain from when he relocated his left shoulder.

After that, he changed into a fresh set of clothes. He had on a pair of blue-black fatigue pants, a sleeveless black t-shirt that accentuated his lean, muscular frame. It also exposed a familiar scar that always brought back painful memories. After he put that on, he laced up a pair of black, steel-toed combat boots. He picked up his handgun and loaded a twelve-round magazine of ten millimeter rounds, then holstered it on his right hip. He also had a few extra clips of ammunition in a belt pouch, as well as a combat knife sheathed at the small of his back. He had no intention of using either weapon, provided they didn't give him a reason to. He also pulled out a disc from one of the duffel bags. After that he was ready to go.

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Meia walked down the corridor, heading for the infirmary. She was to bring Aidan and Maria, the other survivor, to the conference room to talk to the Captain. This whole thing puzzled her, especially since he told her about the fact that it wasn't the 'Earthers' that had attacked them. He said his own people, why would they have the motivation to do that anyway? It could have been for any number of reasons, but she felt as if Earth did have something to do with it. She came upon the door to the infirmary just as Aidan had just finished getting dressed. She noticed that there was a long, jagged scar running from his left shoulder to the just above the elbow. Briefly, she wondered how he'd gotten that scar. As quickly as that thought came, it went, and she spoke up.

"The Captain would like to speak with you now," she said to Aidan.

He turned to face her. "Alright."

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Leaning against the wall next to the door of the meeting room, Barnette stood there waiting. The Captain sat at the head of the table, with BC standing right next to her. Gascogne was sitting in one the chairs near her. Others in the room included: Hibiki, Jura, Bart, and Dita.

She was seething with barely concealed anger. She had been defeated and nearly killed by a man. Only her quick reaction had prevented her from taking a bullet to the chest. She closed her eyes for a minute, to help calm down, but was forced to open them again when the door opened. The first two people to walk through were Meia and Duero. The third was that young violet-haired woman, and the last brought her anger back up slightly. It was the man named Aidan, the one who'd almost killed her.

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"So, Captain Mercer," Magno spoke, breaking the silence. "As you already know, there are several questions that I'd like to ask you."

"I know," he replied. "But before I answer any of your questions, I have one of my own."

"Go on," she said.

"Who are you people and where are you from?" he asked.

"I am Magno Vivan, and I am the leader of a band of pirates from the planet Mejale, and these three men are from Tarak," she replied, gesturing to a short kid with a cast immobilizing his left arm, that doctor, and a bald man apparently in some kind of military uniform.

"Pirates, I knew you weren't officially with any military," he replied.

"Now, I'd like to ask you that same question," Magno countered.

"As you know, I am Aidan Mercer, and I hold the rank of captain in the Solaris Defense Force," he said. "And this is Maria Shakov, daughter of the late Prime Minister of the Solaris Federation, Cedric Shakov," he said, gesturing to Maria.

"What is the Solaris Federation?" the silver-haired woman known as BC, asked.

"The Solaris Federation is located on a planet named Solaris," he said as he took out a disc and held out for the Captain to see. When she nodded her approval, he inserted into the computer console, and brought up the spherical image of a star system from the holographic projector in the center of the table. He keyed in the coordinates, and the star system was replaced by the image of a planet. The planet was a blend of blue, gray, and some green. To him, it looked dull, but it was home, something he was determined to help get back, if he ever rejoined the Defense Force. "This is the planet Solaris, and as you see, it isn't much to look at. There are two continents, one of which is pretty much a wasteland. The other one is the largest and that's where most of the planet's population is located."

"So, that is the planet you call Solaris," Magno stated. "But, why did your ship suddenly appear in this system, and why was it so heavily damaged?"

"Well, that is because we were trying to leave the system, and were under attack," he answered. "And before you ask, it was not Earth that did this, it was a group of rebels, under the aegis of Earth's Divine Army. We are in the middle of a civil war, a war against our own people."

"Earth's Divine Army? What the hell kind of name is that?" the short kid with the cast blurted out.

"They believe to be the ones chosen by Earth, or something like that," he replied to the kid's remark. "I don't understand all that crap those fanatics spit out."

"What exactly is this Earth's Divine Army?" Meia asked.

"They were formed secretly about five years ago. After our forces repelled the Earth invaders, a group of people believed that was the wrong thing to do. The people formed this organization, with which we've had a numerous number of low-scale conflicts, until about three years ago. They have then stepped up their activities and about a little over two years ago a city was destroyed in a three-week long battle that proved their so-called 'cause' couldn't be blunted.

"Why would these people want to do such a thing?" the blonde woman known as Jura asked.

"Don't ask me, I don't know what goes on in those fanatics' heads," he answered. "They have just recently performed a successful coup de'tat. They had assassinated the Prime Minister and were about to kill Maria. That was, until I intervened."

Silence seemed to stretch for a few, long painful seconds. Everyone in the room, except himself and Maria, showed some level of surprise or shock.

"I almost forgot, why did you activate the self-destruct system on that ship?" Magno asked, breaking the silence.

"Simple, Operational Security," he answered. "I didn't want the ship to fall into anyone else's hands."

"Okay, your story seems a little far-fetched, but for some reason I believe you," Magno said. "For the time being, you two can stay on this ship. Oh, and I heard about your little scuffle onboard the Artemis, and I don't want that happening again."

"You have my word," Aidan replied.

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Revised Chapter Three Finished, and the Earth-loving rebels finally have a name! Feedback appreciated.


	5. Chapter Four: Calm

Disclaimer: I've said it before and I'll say it again, I don't own Vandread.

**Vandread: The Unknown Soldier (Revised)**

**Chapter Four: Calm**

_Location: Men's Quarters, Nirvana._

"And this is where you'll be staying…" Meia said, trailing off as Aidan scanned the room. He looked over to see her walking out of the room. She must have something else to do, he thought. He continued to stare at her until she left his sight. _Something about her seems familiar…_

Looking back at the small section of space that would be his quarters for the time being. In truth, it was very similar to what you'd expect for a soldier. The room was spartan, with only a sink, a reflective sheet of metal that served as a mirror, a toilet, and a fold-out metal panel that served as a bed. It would do, he thought as he set his duffel bags down next to his bunk.

"Hey there," someone said off to his side. He turned to see the bald man he'd noticed before. He was wearing a tan, military uniform, although he wasn't on a military vessel. "Aidan, right?"

"That's right," he replied.

"Bart Garsus," he said as he held out his hand.

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After she had finally gotten rid of that awful spacesuit and into a fresh set of clothes, Maria sat down on the bench located in the middle of the ship's garden. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed the red-haired girl that she had seen earlier, on the Artemis. She really didn't want to be here, she wanted to go home. Then she how futile that would be right now, for all that would her there was death. She then thought back to how her father had died, gunned down in cold blood by a couple of soldiers. She would have shared the same fate if not for the actions of Captain Aidan Mercer. She felt her mood suddenly get a little darker.

"Hi, my name's Dita," the red-head said in a cheerful tone.

"Maria… my name is Maria," she stuttered slightly.

"Well, Maria, I'm glad to meet you," she said. " I was just going to cafeteria to get something to eat, wanna come along?"

Her mood started to lighten a little bit. Apparently, Dita's cheerfulness was getting through to her, somehow.

"Sure, why not," she replied, forcing herself to smile.

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"So, BC, do you think that the information he gave us was correct?" Magno asked her second-in-command.

"I'd see no reason fro him to lie to us, Captain," she replied. "I'd say he was telling the truth."

"Then that leaves the question about the fleet that ship was supposed to rendezvous with," Magno said.

"It could mean anything, he said the ship's coordinates may have been thrown off before they arrived here," BC said.

"Then that means that this fleet may not be very far away, all things considered," Magno replied, contemplating.

"Based on that fact, I'd have to say yes," BC said.

"I think it's about time to inform the crew about our new guests," Magno said.

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After tossing one of the duffel bags onto the foldout bunk, Aidan opened it. It contained some clothes and some combat gear. More importantly, it contained the few personal possessions that he carried around with him. He pulled out his wallet and opened it. It had the last bit of his pay in it, but he didn't care about that. It's not like he'd have a use for it here. The most important reason he kept it was the picture it contained. It showed him and few of his comrades, as well as Sakura, only a week before they'd been sent into that hellhole named Augusta. Shutting it and putting it in his pocket, he pulled out a set of dog tags. They weren't his, which he already wore around his neck, but they were Sakura's. She had been killed only a week after that battle.

Shutting out any further memories, he put the tags in his pocket. He needed something to take his mind off of the past.

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Maria picked up her moments after Dita took hers. She followed Dita to a table, and sat her tray down on it. She sat down across from Dita, and picked up her spoon. She scooped some rice up and brought it up to her mouth. A few seconds later Dita spoke up.

"So Maria, I'd like to know more about where you come from, if you don't mind."

"No, not at all, " she replied. "As you heard earlier, I come from a planet named Solaris. And I was the daughter of the former leader of the planet."

Upon saying that, she brought back a recent, painful memory. She decided not to talk about her father any further. She would talk about Solaris instead.

"I know you saw the hologram of the planet, and it's no where near as dull looking when you look as it from orbit."

"Wow, I'd like to see it someday," Dita said enthusiastically.

"Maybe you will," Maria replied. "Someday."

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As he did everyday, Hibiki casually walked into the hangar. He was there to make sure his Vanguard, his _partner_, was kept in the best possible condition. He stopped as he noticed a pair of machines standing off to the side of his Vanguard. They were black, with blue highlighting. There armor was more angled than a Vanguard's, and they stood slightly taller. They were humanoid in form, and unlike a Vanguard, the machine's angled head had a light blue visor instead of a pair of eyes, or a cyclops-eye, like the other Vanguards. Off to their side, he noticed what appeared to be several large weapons lying next to them, mostly guns from the look of it.

He walked over to Gascogne, who was standing near the machine closest to his Vanguard. "Hey, what are these things? They don't like Vanguards to me."

He heard a reply to his question, but it wasn't from Gascogne. "They are called Strikers, "said that soldier as he walked up to where they were standing.

"Oh, it's you," Hibiki replied upon seeing him.

"So that's what they're called," Gascogne said, turning to face Aidan. "We found on that wreck of a ship, and we managed to get a couple of them off of it before it blew up."

"These machines were introduced about four years ago, and were primarily developed for combat against the Earth forces." Aidan said. "They have yet to see action against the Earthers, but they have seen action against the E.D.A."

"Interesting, but none of them could ever stand up to my partner," he said, pointing over to the gold machine in a sitting position on the far of the hangar.

"Quite," Aidan replied, his tone implying that he could care less about that.

"Do you know how to pilot one of them?" Gascogne asked.

"I've had some training on them," Aidan replied stoically.

"Good," Gascogne said with a grin. "I think a little demonstration is in order."

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Meia walked into the empty conference room, and then headed over to the one of the terminals and brought up one of the many Dread formations she'd created. She needed to make sure everything was ready for the new batch of Dread pilots that would be arriving next week from their main base. It was essential to get new recruits integrated with the veteran pilots, make them a cohesive unit, just in case Earth came back. She continued to work for a few minutes more, until the door slid open and Misty entered.

"Oh, it's just you, Misty," she said as she glanced up from the console.

"What are you doing, dear sister?" Misty asked.

"I'm getting everything ready for when the new pilots come on board next week," she replied as she typed something into the console.

"Okay," Misty said. "Do you need anything?"

"No, but thanks for asking," she replied, a smile creasing her lips.

"Alright then, I'll leave you to your work," Misty said as she exited through the door.

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Sitting in the cockpit of the Striker that was going to use for this demonstration, Aidan thought briefly the first time he'd been in one of these. It was part of his training once he entered Special Forces, and now it just felt like normal in the cockpit. Unlike that kid, which had an emotional attachment to his machine, Aidan thought of the Striker for what it was, a weapon.

He checked over all of the systems, making sure they worked properly, and initiated the startup sequence, and heard a small hum as the fusion-powered engine came online. He strapped himself in, checked the controls, and keyed his comm system.

"This is Aidan, I am ready to begin," he said as gripped the controls.

"This is Gascogne, please stand by," came the reply.

He manipulated the controls, and Striker reached down and grabbed the heavy rifle from it's position on the deck. He walked it over to the catapult and into position. A few seconds after he secured it, he felt as if a large hand had thrown him out of the ship and into space. Once out there, he checked his sensors. His sensors tagged several mobile drones, designated as enemies. The drones were based off of a design that he recognized almost immediately. They looked a lot like the attack robots used by the Earth forces. He patiently waited for signal to begin. It came a few seconds later.

He immediately used his thrusters to propel him downward, sending the powered-down shots from the drones fly over his head. He raised the rifle and let loose a burst, the three slugs slammed into the closest drone, shattering it. He then activated the thrusters once again, sending him to the left as one of the drones overshot him. He deftly maneuvered and fired into the rear of the drone. He then blasted one that had gotten in his face, sending pieces of it clanking off the Striker's armor. He then released his grip on the rifle, pulled out the sword mounted on the hard point of the back of the machine.

Unlike a normal sword, this was a vibrosword. The vibrosword was made of a hardened alloy and equipped with a small sonic generator built into the hilt. The sonic generator caused the blade to vibrate at very high speeds, allowing for greatly increased damage. Another effect was that the blade would glow white-hot, making it look more threatening.

He charged the last several drones, and sliced one if half with the heated blade. He eviscerated the next one, sending it's internals flying into space. He then performed a maneuver that took him down and around the last enemy drone. He moved the sword into a position perpendicular to his Striker and shoved it through the last drone. After that, he moved over and grabbed the rifle, which was floating around in space.

After the exercise, he proceeded back to the Nirvana. After he shut down the Striker, he exited the cockpit and walked down the gantry and onto the deck. Gascogne stood in front of him with her arms crossed.

"Impressive," she said. "I think we may have a use for these." She gestured to the Strikers that were now standing behind Aidan.

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Feedback appreciated. Let me know how I did.


	6. Chapter Five: The Demons Awaken

Disclaimer: I don't own Vandread, the wonderful people at Gonzo do.

Author's Note: This is a notice that there is some strong violence in the first part of this chapter, primarily in Aidan's nightmare.

**Vandread: The Unknown Soldier (Revised)**

**Chapter Five: The Demons Awaken**

_Location: Men's Quarters, Nirvana._

A dull gray mist rose from the forest floor, creating the illusion that one was floating among the clouds. Aidan knew not to fall to such thoughts. It had been raining on and off for the last three days, which was how long he had spent out here. It seemed to have stopped half an hour ago, and now it was very foggy, but not thick enough to hinder him in any way. It actually made what he was about to accomplish that much easier. The whole place looked like something to come from a ghost story, but Lieutenant Aidan Mercer did not believe in ghosts, yet he had the callsign 'Spectre.' What a nice little contradiction. He went over the briefing of this operation in his head once again.

_Your objective is to eliminate a doctor that has been supplying aid and care to the enemy. He has spoken out against our government and openly supports the efforts of the E.D.A. He is currently at his vacation home in the depths of Blackwood Forest. You are to be inserted twenty-five kilometers from the location. There is a possible enemy presence, as the man is somewhat paranoid. Given your training, the guards should pose no threat to you. This is a black op, if you are captured, we will deny any knowledge of your existence._

From his position in what was now muddy ground, he stared intently through his electronic binoculars at the structure some several hundred meters in front of him. It was a typical house that somebody with a good deal of money could afford. He scoffed at the fact that the man could openly help the enemy, denounce his government, and live in such a house while there were several people who were more deserving of it. He noticed two pairs of soldiers, one patrolling the grounds, and the other on the roof. Lowering his binoculars, he pulled the SA54 Longbow Heavy Sniper Rifle from its 'drag-bag.' He then loaded the eight-round magazine, and pulled the bolt back, loading the first round into the firing chamber.

Lying prone in the mud, he focused the scope until he got a good view of the men on the roof. The rifle fired a heavy, eight millimeter slug that would guarantee a kill if he got a good shot. He zeroed on the man to the left. He steadied his breathing into a rhythm, and squeezed the trigger. The bullet hit the man almost instantly, blasting through his head and splattering blood over the man next to him. As the rifle was sound-suppressed, the guard didn't know where the shot had come from. Aidan adjusted his aim and fired again before the man could remove the horrified look from his face. The second shot tore through his body armor and out his back, eliciting a spray of blood before the guard fell backwards.

After putting the rifle back into its drag-bag, he got up and crept up to the house as stealthily as he possibly could. Once there, he snuck around the corner, behind the pair of guards that he'd spotted earlier. He silently drew his knife from its sheath at the small of his back. He silently moved closer to the guards, who were too busy talking about something to notice him. His arms snaked out and grabbed the one closest to him, gloved hand over his mouth while he thrust the knife into the man's back. The other guard realized too late what had just happened, and before he could raise his weapon, Aidan lashed out with the knife, slashing the man's throat and sending a spray of blood across the wall. The man fell to the ground, clutching his throat in a futile attempt to stop the rapid blood loss. Aidan stared at him impassively for a few seconds, and then wiped the blood off of his knife on the dead man's fatigues. He sheathed the knife and moved on.

"Hey! You there!" he heard someone shout behind him. He ducked down and to the left as bullets screamed by where he once stood. Raising his sound-suppressed submachine gun, he let loose a burst that took the man high in the chest, knocking him down. Seconds later, an alarm sounded.

"Shit!" he cursed as he kicked open the back door. He didn't care about stealth now, he had to reach his target before he got away. A couple of guards came running down the stairs. Aidan blasted one of them, causing him to tumble down the stairs, taking the other man with him on his way down. Before the dazed soldier could get a hold of himself, Aidan put a bullet through his head. He stepped over the dead men and rapidly climbed the stairs, intent on reaching the man's study, which was where he most likely was.

He stopped in front of the doors to the man's study, and emptied the SMG's clip into the door. He heard a thump on the other side of the doors, and blood pooled underneath the door. He quickly ejected the empty magazine and a loaded a fresh one. He kicked the doors open, to see his target standing behind his desk. He stepped over the dead soldier in front of him, his SMG lined up with his target.

"So, the Federation has sent one of their attack dogs to come and get rid of me?" the man asked sarcastically. Aidan ignored him, and noticed out of the corner of his eye that there was a woman holding a child who was on the verge of balling her eyes out, in this very room. _What in the hell? What are they doing here?_ Noticing Aidan's distraction, the man pulled something from under his desk. Aidan noticed and pulled the trigger. The gun wouldn't fire, it was jammed. _Damn!_

A sharp crack split the air, and Aidan felt a sharp pain lance through his left arm. He chucked the jammed SMG as hard as he could, and it slammed into the doctor's face, breaking his nose. Stunned, the backed up and dropped his gun and reached for his face. Aidan drew his pistol and pulled the trigger several times. About five bullets slammed into the man, knocking him back. He fell over the chair behind his desk, and Aidan had no doubt that the man was dead. He had accomplished his objective, but something nagged at him.

He turned to the see the woman staring in horror at her dead husband, and her daughter was crying. _There must be no witnesses, _he heard his commander's voice say in his head. Gun still in hand, he walked over to where they were standing. He raised his gun, and the woman clutched her daughter all the tighter, knowing what was to come next. Aidan fought with his emotions and sense of morality, but in the end, his commander's nagging voice won out. The little girl, which was no more than six years old, looked up at him with scared, tear-filled eyes. He steeled his emotions into a hardened stoicism, and pulled the trigger…

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With a startled, choked cry, Aidan snapped awake. He was gasping for air, and his body was soaked with sweat. After a few seconds, he realized he wasn't even on Solaris, and he wasn't carrying out that damn mission. He brought his hand up to his face and wiped the sweat from it. Clad only in a pair of shorts, he got up off the bed and walked over to the mirror. He tapped the button on the sink that turned on the water. He let the cold water run for a minute before he splashed water over his face and chest. His image stared back at him through the mirror as water ran down his chest in rivulets, changing directions when they came into contact with one of several scars on his chest.

Most of those scars were the result of a razor whip, courtesy of his former commanding officer. He had received that punishment when an argument with his commander ended with Aidan breaking the man's nose. The cross-shaped scar on his face was also a result of that same punishment, although that one with a knife. His former commander had made it clear that there be no witnesses of his death, and that apparently included harmless women and children. He vowed never to kill an innocent person again, even if it meant breaking a direct order. He wouldn't do it again, because the face of the little girl haunted him.

_I'm a soldier, not a damn murderer._ With one arm, he leaned against the mirror, resting his head against its cool surface. A few seconds later he lifted his head and looked into the mirror once again. His steel gray eyes stared back at him, and he ran his other hand through his short, brown hair. In a vent for his anger, he drew his fist back and punched the wall next to the mirror. _I'm already damned…_

He checked his chronometer, and it read 0344 hours. There was no point in going back to sleep, so he decided he'd go take a shower. He walked over to the showers, and ten minutes later, he was dressed in some fresh clothes, and he'd decided he'd to take his mind off of these painful memories by walking around. He left the men's quarters, with everyone else still asleep, all but one other.

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The other person who couldn't sleep was Meia Gisborn. She was leaning on the railing overlooking the ship's garden, and it looked as though something was troubling her. The dream, no, nightmare, she had but an hour earlier had disturbed her. It involved some mysterious person that had killed several people, and almost killed her.

_She was running to where she heard the screams. The main power on the Nirvana appeared to be off, leaving the corridors backlit in an eerie red. She came upon a pair of corpses, and both of them appeared to be security personnel. Both of them had been violently killed, and she felt the urge to vomit come to her. Fighting it down, she then heard the sound of what appeared to weapon discharges. Then she saw another corpse, and standing over it was a female figure with an unfamiliar weapon. The figure looked up at her, but her face was absent. _

_She raised her laser ring and tried to fire, but the figure was faster, and she felt a sharp, tearing pain in her left shoulder, and sending her flailing to the left. It felt as if several sharp needles had ripped into her shoulder at once. She screamed in pain, holding the heavily bleeding wound with her other hand as she slammed against the corridor wall. She looked up to see the figure, smiling, pointing the weapon at her head. There was nothing amusing in the smile. She tried to move out of the way, but then the figure fired…_

Was it just a horrible nightmare, or was it a message, trying to tell her something? She would liked to have believed it to be nothing more than a bad dream, but her feelings, her instincts were telling her otherwise. Her current train of thought was interrupted as she noticed someone walking down on one of the garden's pathways. She looked a little closer, and she made it out to be a man, it was Aidan Mercer.

_Now what is he doing here so early in the morning?_ He walked around for a few minutes, apparently doing nothing else, and then just sat down on a bench. She decided to find out why he was up, and maybe find out a little more about him, as well.

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Aidan just sat there, staring out into the vast star-filled sea known as space. In his hand, he held a pair of dog tags. They belonged to perhaps his closest friend, Sakura Nakayama. She had been in what could have only been described as a cowardly terrorist bombing. He had known her since he was twelve years old, and she had died a mere three years ago. His gaze fell down to the tags in his hand, and his grip tightened around them.

"Captain Mercer," a voice said off to his side. He put the tags back into his pocket, and looked over to see who it was. It was the sapphire-haired woman named Meia. She had addressed him by his rank, and he wasn't expecting that. "May I sit down?" He nodded and moved over, allowing her to take a seat.

"You don't have to be so formal," he said. "And besides, I don't hold any rank here. Just call me Aidan."

"On one condition," she replied. "Call me Meia."

"Deal."

There was an odd silence between them for a few moments. Then Meia spoke up. "I was wondering, when did Earth actually attack your home?"

"Well," he began. "It was about twelve years ago, I was only ten years old when it happened. Our initial defenses were overrun pretty quickly, and only when they were basically at our front door did we manage to put any form of a solid defense. They were relentless in their pursuit of us, and openly destroyed crippled vessels and fighters. I was on one of the civilian transports during their final attack. They managed to penetrate our last line of defense and starting attacking the transports. Both of my parents were killed in that final attack, when the hull of the ship was breached. I was rescued by one of the soldiers on board the ship."

She cringed slightly at his mention of the way his parents died. "What happened to the Earth fleet?"

"I don't know the exact reason, but they just ceased their attack and left the system," he said. "It was almost like someone was calling them off. A couple of years later, I volunteered for military service, and was sent to a training facility. From then on I've pretty much been a soldier all my life."

There was a painfully long silence after that, and then Meia suddenly stood up. "There's something I've got to do," she said. "And don't be late for the briefing later today," she said as she walked away.

"Understood," he said as he also stood up. He been told that there was going to be a briefing integrating the new recruits, and he was being integrated because he knew how to pilot a Striker. He also learned that this 'Dread squadron' was under her direct command. He didn't know why, but he felt more comfortable after talking to her, more so than most other people. He smiled.

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There was a slight shudder as the oddly colored shuttle settled onto it's landing gear. The shuttle had just landed in the cargo bay of the Nirvana. A few seconds later the ramp descended to the bay floor. Several people, all women, headed down the ramp. Reika Kiyaga was one of them. They were all graduates of the Dread Piloting class that were now boarding the Nirvana. She picked up the bag that contained her personal belongings, and began her descent down the ramp. She was one of those new Dread pilots meant to replace the losses during the Harvest War, as it was being called. Once she was on the bay floor, the Captain came up from the crowd formed behind her to greet the new pilots.

"I'd like to be the first to welcome you to the Nirvana," she said warmly. "More importantly, I'd like to welcome you to this _family_."

As the Captain continued her speech, Reika listened intently. She had been alone for a long time, and now she a home, a sense of belonging. As soon as she finished her speech, Magno greeted every single one of the pilots, including Reika, personally. Not long after they were to be told to what rooms they would be assigned.

"Amazing, isn't it?" Jennifer said off to her right. Jennifer was a lot more slender that Reika, who had an athletic frame. Jennifer had her long teal hair over one shoulder.

"Yes, it is," Reika replied, running a hand through her short black hair. What was distinct about her was a single lock of her hair was red.

They had become friends on their way over here. They both walked over to where the room assignments were posted. They apparently had rooms that were right next to each other. Jennifer turned to face Reika.

"It seems we're going to be neighbors," she said jokingly.

"Well, then, I'm going to go take a nap, the trip over here took it out of me," Reika said.

"Alright, I'm going to go get a bite to eat," Jennifer said. "See you later."

"Later," Reika replied, as she walked to her room. Once there, she tossed her bag onto the floor and plopped onto the bed. Not long after, she was asleep.

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Feedback appreciated.


	7. Chapter Six: Engagement

Disclaimer: I think you know what this is for by now.

**Vandread: The Unknown Soldier (Revised)**

**Chapter Six: Engagement**

_Location: Uncharted Star System, 120 Light Years from Tarak/Mejale System._

"What in the world is taking them so long?" Admiral Alexander Graff, the highest ranking naval officer left, acting commander of the remainder of the Solaris Defense Force, asked his second in command.

"I don't know, sir, they did take a lot of damage during their escape," Commander Marcus Randall replied almost immediately.

"Perhaps, but I think it has more to do that coordinates may have been off," Graff said as he stroked his dark, well-trimmed beard.

"True, but I don't think it would have taken them this long," the stoic Randall replied.

Graff picked up the mug that sat in it's holder on the arm of his command chair, and took a sip of the dark, bitter liquid. It wasn't real coffee, but a soy-based substitute, as they ran out of the real stuff a few days ago. He winced in pain as the hot liquid burned his tongue. His vision scanned the bridge of the S.D.S Dauntless, noting that every member of the bridge crew was doing his or her job. Still, he couldn't help but wonder what was taking Captain Cranston and the Artemis so damn long. His current train of thought was interrupted by the sensor operator's alarmed shout.

"Sir, multiple contacts have just appeared in system!" the operator reported.

"Can you identify them?" he asked, although a feeling in his gut told him it was the E.D.A. His feeling was verified when he saw the operator visibly pale.

"Sir, it's the E.D.A.! They have found us!" she fairly shouted her report.

"Dammit!" he cursed. "All hands, general quarters, prepare for battle! All pilots, prepare for launch!" he bellowed. All over the ship, the activity tripled as every crewmember stopped what they were doing and headed for their stations.

"Contact the rest of the fleet," he ordered the comm tech. "Tell them to prepare for battle. Helmsman, bring engines to full," he ordered. "Bring main batteries online, load missile tubes," he ordered the weapons officer.

A series of 'Aye, sirs!' followed his chain of commands as the Dauntless leapt into action. The Dauntless was an Invincible class Battle cruiser, and it was aptly named. Being the largest class of vessel in the fleet, the Invincible Class boasted the heaviest armor and the most weapons of any ship in the Solaris Defense Force. It's angular shape slightly resembled the battleships of the twentieth century, but only faintly. The bulky appearance would intimidate just about anybody. Several of the laser cannons on mounted along the nose of the craft started to glow as the weapons were prepped for combat.

"So, it has begun…" Randall said ominously, something normally unlike him.

"Aye, that it has…" Graff echoed.

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Hibiki flexed his left arm while he walked down one of the ship's many corridors. It had been a few days ago that he'd had the cast removed, and he felt better than he had in a long time. He almost didn't notice Dita approach him, until she called him by that annoying nickname she'd given him when they first met.

"Hey, Mr. Alien!" she said in her usual cheerful voice.

"Oh, it's you," he replied in his usual manner when addressing her. "What do you want now?"

"Well, I was wondering when you were going to keep your promise," she said as she glanced down and then back up.

_Dammit, she still remembers?_ He felt his face get red with embarrassment as he replied. "Well, I… um, I can't right now."

"Why not?" she asked, edging in closer to him.

"Well, uh… because I have something to do," he replied, backing up slightly.

"Aww… you always say something like that," she said, disappointment evident in her voice.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed someone in the gym, which was on the men's side of the ship. Upon looking closer, he noticed it was that soldier from Solaris, Aidan. Deciding he needed to get away from Dita, he proceeded to walk towards the gym.

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With nothing else to do for the moment, Maria thought she'd go ahead and take a walk. Her mind flashed over the recent events, the most painful being the death of her father. To think it had only been a week and a half since he was killed, no, murdered. Her father was all she had left, with the fact that her mother had passed away when Maria was just a little girl. Her father had raised her from that point on, sparing enough time for her when she needed it. She failed to notice the person in front of her, who apparently wasn't paying attention either. She and the other person collided, knocking her to the ground.

"Sorry," the other person said as she held out a hand to help Maria to her feet. She accepted the help.

"No, it was my fault, I wasn't watching where I was going," she said sheepishly. She saw the woman had short, black hair, with some red in it. "Maria, my name is Maria."

"Reika," the woman replied. "You're not from around here, are you?"

"No, I'm not," she replied. "I'm from Solaris."

"Solaris, eh?" Reika said, slightly narrowing her eyes, which Maria failed to notice. "So you're the one I've been hearing a lot about recently?"

"Well it was nice running into you," Reika said, smiling slightly. "See you around."

Maria laughed lightly at the implied joke. "Yeah, see you around."

As soon as Maria was out of earshot, Reika smiled to herself, but there was no humor in it. "Sooner than you think, my dear Maria."

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The large, leather bag rocked and swayed under several pounding blows. As a soldier, he had to maintain physically fit, as all the drills and exercises in training had made completely clear. It became even more intense as he entered Special Forces. He also had trained extensively in hand-to-hand combat techniques, a lot of times, the hard way. He continued his assault on the bag, noticing but deciding to ignore the person he saw out of the corner of his eye. He stopped as he heard the person speak up.

"Need a sparring partner?" Hibiki asked. "I'm pretty good at this kind of stuff," he said in a prideful voice.

"Is that so?" he asked sarcastically as he wiped the sweat from his face. He was about to refuse the offer, but something in this kid's tone made him reconsider. He had the same kind of tone when he had started military training, but was quickly lost when his training instructor decked him without any advance warning, more than once. This kid needed to be taught a lesson. He walked over and picked up some additional sparring gear, and tossed it to the kid.

"Put these on," he said.

"Okay," Hibiki replied as he took off his orange shirt, and put the gear on. The gear consisted of a pair of padded gloves, boots, and a helmet. Aidan had the same, sans the helmet.

As soon as he donned the gear, Hibiki walked onto the mat, opposite Aidan. Aidan cracked his knuckles. "Okay, I'll let you have the first move, kid."

"Whatever you say," Hibiki replied. "And don't call me 'kid.'

Hibiki lunged forward and threw a right hook, but Aidan, already in a defensive stance, easily shifted to his left, avoiding the rather clumsy attack. It seemed to irritate Hibiki. The next punch was also pretty easy to block and avoid, further aggravating him.

"Are you going to fight or just dance around?" Hibiki complained.

Aidan knew better than to fall for something like that. Hibiki was trying to goad him into doing something foolish. _Like hell._ Now it was time to turn that tactic back at him. Hibiki threw another punch, and Aidan grabbed his outstretched arm and hooked his left foot behind Hibiki's legs, and tripped him, making him fall flat on his back.

"Come on, is that all you got, _kid_?" Aidan taunted, as he let Hibiki get back on his feet.

"Like I said before, don't call me 'kid!' Hibiki growled as he charged into attack yet again. This time he found himself flat on his face. Aidan had easily tripped him up, again. The kid had to be fuming now.

"You're hot-headed, which is easy to exploit," Aidan said.

"You know nothing about me!" Hibiki yelled.

"That's right, I don't know anything about you really," Aidan replied. "But I don't need to."

"Why not?" Hibiki asked irritably.

"Because I can still kick your sorry little ass," he replied with a smirk.

Then, without any warning, Aidan went on the offensive, attacking with a series of punches that ended with an underhand blow to Hibiki's abdomen, knocking the wind out of him. Before Hibiki could recover Aidan slammed his padded fist straight into Hibiki's forehead, flooring him.

Dazed, Hibiki took a few seconds to regain his senses. "That was unfair," he whined.

"There are no rules in a life-or-death fight, kid," Aidan countered. "Think about that next time somebody attacks you with the intent to kill." Aidan grabbed Hibiki's arm and pulled him to his feet.

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Straining against the g-forces that threatened to bludgeon him into oblivion, Lieutenant Scott Hawkins pursued the enemy fighter. He was currently engaged in a pitched dogfight with a few rebel fighters. The sharp turn he had just performed saved him from a pair of missiles that were locked onto him. He piloted an SF-21 Lightning, a sleek, fast, forward-swept wing fighter. He turned his attention to another enemy fighter as it entered his field of vision.

"Gotcha," he muttered as he lined up his sights on the enemy. Once he had lock, he unleashed a series of blasts from his fighter's nose-mounted pulse laser cannons. The series of red beams tore into the fighter from tail to nose, blasting open the cockpit in the process. With it's pilot vaporized, the fighter veered out of control before exploding several hundred meters away.

"Scratch one bandit!" he crowed into his helmet-mike. Little did he know that little skirmish had brought him into range of one the larger vessel's defensive weapons. He pulled away as several laser bolts and missiles were fired in his direction. He turned back onto the ship and locked his missiles onto it. He watched as the missiles tore into one of the defensive turrets, blowing it to pieces.

What he didn't notice was that a laser bolt did find it's mark, coring the fighter's main engine. He franticly grabbed for the ejection handle, which would eject the entire cockpit. He pulled, but the flames were faster, and he was burned up, along with the rest of his fighter. To anybody watching, the flaming ejection pod was like a comet before disintegrating into nothingness.

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Reika walked into the briefing room a few minutes early, and took a seat next to Jennifer. This was required to integrate the new recruits with the veterans of the Dread squadron. She had noticed a man standing in the back of the room, leaning against the wall. He made eye contact with her briefly, before she turned her attention back to the woman in command, Meia Gisborn.

"Now that everyone's here, let's begin," Meia started off.

"What's he doing here?" Reika whispered to her friend.

"Him?" Jennifer replied, glancing back at the man leaning against the wall. "I don't know."

"Do you two have something you want to tell the rest of us?" Meia said to the two them, pinning them with a stern glance.

"Uh- nothing, Ma'am," Reika replied.

"Well then let's get back to the task at hand then," Meia said.

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After having to participate in the briefing for the exercise, Aidan was going to go back to his quarters. On his way down the corridor, he noticed a pair of figures walking the opposite way. They were apparently talking about something amusing, as one of them was laughing. As they got closer, he noticed that they were the Dread pilots that kept looking back at him during the briefing.

The one that was laughing had long, teal hair that she kept over one shoulder. The other was slightly shorter, but had really short black hair. What was distinct about her was that a single lock of her hair was red. They had noticed him and both glanced in his direction, and he nodded slightly to them as they passed by.

He unconsciously brought his hand up to his left arm, right where there was a long, jagged scar running from his shoulder to just above his elbow. He had received that wound in an explosion, and the medics said that the wound was so deep that the scar could not be removed. He was fine with that, as it was a reminder. A reminder, and a price that he had paid for failing to protect the one person he cared about.

Then something else suddenly came to his mind. He glanced back, but both women were already out of sight. It was a slight nagging feeling. He felt as if one of the two seemed familiar, the one with the short black hair. No matter what, he couldn't totally place that feeling, but something told him differently.

He asked himself these questions, but still couldn't figure out why she was familiar. He thought that he might need to inform one of the leaders of this pirate group of a potential risk. That troublesome thought bothered him all the way back to his quarters.

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Feedback is always appreciated.


	8. Chapter Seven: Suspicion

Disclaimer: I believe you already know what this is for.

**Vandread: The Unknown Soldier (Revised)**

**Chapter Seven: Suspicion**

_Location: Conference Room, Nirvana._

"Say that again," Magno Vivan said, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Like I said before, I believe one of your new fighter pilots may not be who she seems," Aidan said as he repeated his earlier statement.

"Do you know this for a fact?" BC asked with her arms crossed.

"No, just a feeling," Aidan replied, looking over at BC.

"If we don't have proof, we cannot act upon it," Magno said. "Do you know her name?"

"Her name, I believe, was Reika," Aidan replied.

BC accessed a terminal and brought up a list of the new Dread pilots, she scrolled down until she came to the name 'Reika Kiyaga.' She brought up her profile, and asked, "Is this her?"

"Yeah, but I don't believe that is her real name," Aidan said as he crossed his arms.

"Why do you believe that?" Magno asked.

"Because it is the nature of the spy to take on different identities to keep themselves hidden," Aidan replied.

"So you're saying she's a spy?" Magno asked incredulously.

"Perhaps, but my point is that her name might not be actually hers," Aidan said, uncrossing his arms.

"So what would you suggest we do about it?" BC asked.

"Just to keep an eye on her, that is all," Aidan answered as he headed toward the door.

"And what if you're wrong?" Magno asked.

"If I'm wrong, then you can just forget that I ever brought it up," he replied as exited the room.

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Reika sat on her bed, lazily tapping at the keys of her small noteputer. She had nothing to do for the last half hour. She was waiting for a message which had yet to come, and not even running Dread simulations seemed to relieve her boredom. She continued tapping at the keys until a message popped up on the screen.

"'Bout damn time," she said as she noticed it.

The sender was tagged as unknown, but she knew who it was from. She opened and saw that it was encrypted, so she opened a decryption program and let it go to work. It took a few moments, and then she was finally able to read the message.

The first part of the message read, 'Proceed at your own discretion.' The second part read, 'Do not reply, delete this message once finished.'

After she read it, she deleted it and erased it from her notepaper's hard drive. She smiled to herself as she shut down and closed her noteputer. _Her mission had just begun…_

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Flexing the arm of his Light Stealth Type Powered Armor, Aidan made sure that it did not jam up or was damaged in any serious way. The Light Stealth Type Powered Armor, named 'Geist,' was the latest development in Solaris Powered Combat Armor. This was one of the lightest armor, which meant that it could only withstand small-arms fire and some laser-based weapons. The armored suit was only slightly larger than a normal human, and it's weapon selection was limited to mostly infantry weapons. As was per standard, the armor was equipped with an internal medical pack that integrated with the sensor mesh that the soldier wore. The medical pack could inject painkillers, adrenaline, or any other forms of drugs that were necessary in case the wearer sustained injury.

Unlike the heavier models, the wearer had to support some of the weight of this one. The most important and unique feature, however, was the optical camouflage system built into the suit. It used special electronic dampeners that masked it's infrared signature, and it's armor was coated with a special mimetic coating that helped redirect light that helped make the armor almost completely invisible when the system was activated. The helmet, in which the visor was still shattered, had a heads-up display that allowed for enhanced targeting and detection capabilities. Unless damaged, the entire suit was pressurized and sealed, allowing the wearer to operate it in the vacuum of space.

He had refused assistance from a nerdy-looking woman with glasses that went by the name of Parfet, to help repair any damage to the suit. First of all, she didn't need to know how this powered armor worked. Second, the technology used in it was classified and she had no right to find out. She definitely wanted to know more about the optical camouflage, but he had refused her request. He still didn't trust most of these people completely, and he saw no reason to let her know.

Suddenly, a tall, blonde woman walked into his field of vision. He immediately recognized her as the one who'd attacked him with the saber on the Artemis.

"It looks as if you're getting prepared to go to battle," she said to him, looking at the armor he wore.

"It may appear so, but I'm just performing maintenance," he said, not bothering to look up at her as he adjusted his left arm gauntlet. "What do you want?"

"Well," she said in a somewhat seductive voice. "There's something I want you to give me."

"And what would that be?" he inquired, his tone showing no interest.

"I would like for you to help me make a baby," she said bluntly.

"What!" he replied, caught slightly off-guard by her bluntness. _Who the hell does she think I am? I barely even know her and here she's asking me to do…_

"So, will you?" she asked, expecting the answer to be yes.

"Do you have any idea as to what you are asking?" he asked upon quickly settling a neutral mask over his face.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she replied, irritation creeping into her voice as she placed her hand on her hips.

Aidan sighed. "I thought so." He paused for a second before replying. "Oh, and my answer is no."

The woman apparently fumed, then stormed out of the men's quarters, nearly running over Bart as she went.

"What was that all about?" Bart asked as he barely avoided her.

"I have no idea," he replied as he clenched and unclenched his armored glove.

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Casually walking around the ship's garden, Maria glanced up into the sea of stars that filled her vision overhead. It was becoming a habit for her recently. She enjoyed the peace and calm that came with a stroll through this place. It was a place of serenity, a place where she could get away from all the war and death that seemed intent on haunting her. It was a stark contrast with the rest of the ship, which was gray and dull compared to the lush green of the plant-life and the stream flowing through the center of it.

She plopped onto the bench that was located near her and once again her vision trailed up to the stars in the sky, numerous and uncountable. _Nirvana… Paradise, seems like an appropriate name._

_Hard to believe it's already been a month since we first arrived here…_She still had the lingering desire to return home. But she feared there would be no place for her to return, that she would be found and killed. As it was now, she wouldn't mind if she ever went back. She got up off the bench and started her walk back to the quarters they'd provided her.

Little did she know that someone was watching her from the shadows… and no, it wasn't Paiway, but someone else. The shadowed figured promised that all the death would catch up with her, before moving back into the shadows and completely out of sight.

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Duero read the information at his computer console intently. It was information pertaining to Solaris. He had acquired it from copying the original disc that Aidan had. He knew it was underhanded, but he knew Aidan didn't totally trust him. He had frequently circumvented, avoided, and blunted his questions when it concerned where Aidan had come from.

He just got finished reading the data on Maria Shakov, the daughter of the late Prime Minister Cedric Shakov. He was assassinated just before Maria was evacuated off a space station by none other than Aidan Mercer. The file also had all of her medical records, which he knew could be useful at a later date. After he finished with her file, he opened military service record of Aidan Mercer.

The file contained a somewhat current picture of him as well as a brief history of him before he'd entered active service. The file said he was orphaned at the age of ten after the final attack by the Earth forces in the Solaris system, twelve years ago. That made him the age of twenty-two. Two years later he was put into a military academy, and stayed there until age of sixteen. At that age, he entered active military training, aka boot camp.

A year later, he entered active service in a combined-arms unit known as the Seventy-First Solaris Dragoons. About that time the E.D.A. started to openly revolt, staging attacks at multiple locations across the planet. His unit was called to suppress the attacks at the city of Augusta. What surprised him was that Augusta was the city that Aidan had mentioned destroyed when he first provided information. After three weeks of brutal street-to-street fighting, the remnants of the Seventy-First were pulled out and the city was razed by an orbiting warship.

A year after that a large portion of his unit had been destroyed in a terrorist attack, apparently in retribution for their actions in Augusta. The perpetrator of the attack was never found. Aidan was wounded, but survived and requested a transfer to Special Operations. That was when the data about him came to an end.

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Sitting in the open cockpit of his Striker, Aidan searched the computer in his lap, performing maintenance. The control systems were a little off, and the targeting system veered a little to the left. The Striker currently was in a kneeling position, with a gantry running up and just below the open cockpit. He was distracted by the sound of someone climbing up the gantry to where he was. Then he saw a red-haired girl peer into the cockpit.

"Oh, it's you, Mr. Soldier," she said. It was a nickname she had given him. He had told her not to call him that, but getting her to do that seemed impossible.

"Do you want something?" he asked as set the computer aside.

"Have you seen Mr. Alien?" she asked.

"You mean that kid, no I haven't seen him around," Aidan replied.

"Well, thanks anyway," she said as she left.

He went back to work and noticed that the camera feed and sensors had started to act up again. He checked the computer, and then climbed out of the cockpit. He climbed up onto the shoulder of the machine, and removed an access panel from the side of the machine's head. He began to check the wires and conduits, rewiring them when necessary. He failed to notice someone climb onto the gantry, until they spoke up.

"Hey, Aidan, can I talk to you for a minute?" the person asked.

He looked down and saw that Meia was the one who asked. He climbed down off machine and onto the gantry. "Sure, what's on your mind?"

"I spoke with the Captain about your suspicions concerning one of the Dread pilots," she said after a few seconds.

"What about it?" he asked.

"Well, I've got the same feeling that something isn't right," she replied.

"If I may ask, how'd you get that feeling?"

"Well, it all started with a dream I had…" she replied.

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Meanwhile, while everyone else was asleep, the person known as Reika was up and about. She was in the engineering section of the ship. Satisfied that no one was around, she pulled out a small noteputer, and plugged it in to an engineering terminal. She then activated the small computer and brought up a program. A few seconds later a bar appeared across the screen, and above it, it said 'Uploading.' A few minutes later, it had been finished, and she unplugged the noteputer and exited the engineering section, smiling to herself.

_It will begin very soon…_

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Feedback appreciated.


	9. Chapter Eight: Wolf in the Fold, PartOne

Disclaimer: I don't own Vandread.

Author's Note: There is a small bit of strong violence at the end of this chapter.

**Vandread: The Unknown Soldier (Revised)**

**Chapter Eight: Wolf in the Fold, Part One**

_Location: Men's Quarters_

Staring blankly at the ceiling from his lying position on the bunk, Aidan sat there, thinking about what Meia had told him earlier that day. She said that she'd heard about his suspicions concerning the Dread pilot Reika. She had told him that she had a dream in where a faceless female intruder killed several people, and almost her with a weapon she said she couldn't identify. The mere thought was disturbing, to say the least.

_So that makes it all the more possible that this Reika is from Solaris or some other planet. But why in the hell does she seem so damn familiar?_

He continued to contemplate on that until a loud snoring sound reached his ears. It was distracting, to say the least. He tried to think, but couldn't. He looked over to see that it was Bart. _That moron is as annoying asleep as he is awake._ He resisted the urge to pick up some random object and chuck it at him. He laid his head back on his bunk and closed his eyes, and it wasn't long before he was asleep.

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After going over the footage again and again, BC wasn't pleased. The footage was taken from a camera hidden in engineering, and it caught on tape the black and red haired Reika doing something at one of the terminals. Due to the angle of the camera, what she was doing couldn't be identified. BC didn't like what she saw.

_So, why is she in engineering? _BC thought. _So this adds some credibility to what Aidan had said. Still, I wonder what she could be doing there._

After going over the footage a few more times, she came to a conclusion. It appears that she was stealing information concerning the Paksis Pragma, the three Dreads, the Vanguard, or the Vandreads, or perhaps all of it. Either that or she might be uploading something. BC couldn't tell from the footage.

"I'm going to have to inform the Captain about this," she said aloud, shutting down the data reading unit.

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After being called to the conference room, Aidan had been shown a camera clip that showed Reika in the engineering section, doing something at a terminal. Aside from the Captain and BC, Gascogne and Meia were also present. He stared at the screen, trying to pick out any detail that could give away what she was actually doing.

"So, what do you think she is doing?" Magno asked to anyone in general.

"I believe she was stealing information on the Paksis Pragma, and anything connected to it," BC said after a moment's silence.

"Perhaps," Aidan spoke up. "But, I don't think that was what she was doing."

"Then, what is she doing?" Gascogne asked, gesturing to the computer screen.

This time it was Meia who had answered. "She might have uploaded something, a virus of some kind."

"That is what I think," he said, nodding to Meia before looking back to the rest of them. "She most likely uploaded a delayed-action virus or remote-activated virus."

"So you're saying we should initiate a search of the Nirvana's computer to look for any possible infection," BC said in reply to Aidan's statement.

"Well, that is what I'd do," he said.

"So what do we do about Reika?" Meia interrupted.

"Now that you brought it up," Magno said. "I'd like to have a word with her."

"Is that wise, Captain?" BC protested.

"I'll have a couple of security personnel escort her here," Magno replied. "And Aidan can stay here as well, as it concerns him."

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A lone figure stood over the bed, reviewing the equipment laid out on it. The person known as Reika Kiyaga was dead, and her identity stolen. The person standing there had taken over her life to infiltrate the security measures the Mejalean pirates had put into place. The figure had no real name, and was an assassin. Her objective was to eliminate the late Prime Minister of Solaris' daughter. If necessary, she would kill anyone that got in her way. She had uploaded a virus that, when activated, would disable all functions onboard the Nirvana, effectively rendering the ship 'dead.' After completion of her objective, she would escape via one of the Dread fighters, and picked up by a friendly vessel.

There had been one slight problem, the pilot named Jennifer had come at the most inopportune time, while she was checking her equipment. After silencing her, she resumed her work. She went over the equipment laid out on the bed. There were several throwing knives, a few small daggers, a slightly larger dagger, and a Solaris Arms Needle Pistol. _Time to get to work._ She unzipped and removed her pilot suit, and put on a tight, sleeveless shirt intended to allow for unrestricted movement. Also a pair of leather pants made for the same purpose. She then donned a specially tailored jacket, one that had special slots and pockets to hold her weapons. After she was done with that, she laced the pair of boots she wore.

She then began to insert the knives into the slots in her sleeves, and two of the daggers in her boots. The third dagger she put in a sheath at the small of her back. After that, she picked up the needler, loaded it then charged it. This particular needle pistol, also known as a needler, fired several razor-sharp needle-like flechettes shaved from a block of ballistic polymer. There were also a few extra clips for the weapon lying on the bed. She inserted it into it's holster on the inside of the jacket just as she heard a knock on the door. She walked over to the door and pressed the stud, allowing it to open. She saw two security guards standing there, and then the brown-haired guard spoke up.

"Are you Reika Kiyaga?"

"Yes, that's me," she replied. "Is something wrong?"

"No, the Captain would like to have a word with you, that is all," the orange-red haired one replied.

"The Captain?" she asked innocently. "What does the Captain want with me?"

"If you would come with us, please," the brunette said.

"Alright," she said as she walked out of her room and into the corridor.

"This way," one of them gestured, as they took up positions behind her, their laser rings pointed at her.

_Have they caught on to me? _She casually put her hands in front of her as she walked and pressed a button on what appeared to be a watch. _A slight change in plans._

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Barnette was walking down the corridor when she saw a pair from security escorting one of the Dread pilots. Her gaze met the Dread pilot's and she felt a shiver down her spine as they walked by each other. The pilot's eyes were cold, ice cold. She briefly looked back at the pilot, wondering why she had that look in her eyes. They were probably taking her to see the Captain, she thought, as they were headed away from the brig.

Little did she know what was going to happen next…

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Leaning against the conference room wall with his eyes half-closed, Aidan patiently waited for the guards to escort this Reika here. That probably wasn't even her real name, he thought. He stood there for a moment until memories of an explosion appeared in his mind. Then his mind shifted to Sakura's face, then back to the explosion. He remembered a minute before the explosion had occurred, when he crossed paths with a young woman in a blue and black jumpsuit. The woman had red and black hair, and he bolted up as soon as he realized it. With chilling certainty, he knew exactly what this woman was here for. She was going to assassinate Maria Shakov.

"Damn!" he cursed as he bolted up, drawing his gun in the process.

"What's wrong?" BC asked.

"Send some guards to protect Maria," he ordered her.

"But why-"

"I don't have time to explain! Just do it!" he shouted just as the power went out. "Damn, it's begun."

Anger started to seep into him, he had finally identified the person who had killed Sakura, and he was intent on stopping her and making her pay. He would make sure she bathed in her own blood for what she had done. The thought of vengeance burned in him as he moved on.

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Just as the power throughout the ship died, the guards stopped, evidently distracted by what had just happened. The assassin took advantage of this, doing an immediate about face, driving a fist into the stomach of the brunette, which was closer to her. She then dropped down, and with a sweeping kick to her legs, knocked the red-head onto her back. Just as the brunette doubled over with a gasp, she grabbed a hold of her and embraced her, pressing the barrel of the needler against her neck.

"Say farewell," she said as she squeezed the trigger.

The flechettes tore through her neck, shredding her vocal chords and throat before ripping out the back. She released her grip on the woman as blood poured from the wound, covering the floor with its dark color. The woman clutched at her throat in a futile attempt to stop the blood loss.

"Damn you!" the other one yelled as she got back to her feet and raised her arm to fire her laser ring. The assassin grabbed a hold of her arm and pushed it upward, sending the shot off its mark. She then struck the guard across the face with a pistol whip. The woman went down with a cry of pain.

"Just doing my job" the assassin said as she pointed the needler at the guard, who was now on her knees. She pulled the trigger twice, and watched the shots tear into the woman's face before she collapsed in a pool of her own blood, which was starting to mix with the other dead woman's.

She immediately moved away from her two victims. She headed for the location she believed Maria Shakov was located. _It was time to locate and eliminate her target._

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Meanwhile, a lone man sat in the control seat of the shuttle he'd commandeered. He was waiting for a certain someone. He did not know why he was the one chosen to retrieve this person at a designated location away from prying eyes. He'd heard this person was a woman, and he didn't like to work with women, in fact, he hated them.

"Man, what is taking this woman so damn long?" he asked aloud as he leaned back in the pilot's chair, even though no one else was present in the small craft.

He decided that if she didn't get here soon, he'd just abandon her to her fate. He'd take some flak, but he'd rather do that than wait for this woman any longer.

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Feedback appreciated, as always.


	10. Chapter Nine: Wolf in the Fold, Part Two

Disclaimer: I wonder, why do I keep repeating this if you guys already know what it's for?

Author's Note: Strong violence in this one, as well as a disturbing scene or two.

**Vandread: The Unknown Soldier (Revised)**

**Chapter Nine: Wolf in the Fold, Part Two**

_Location: Corridor outside Conference Room, Nirvana._

Sensing something wrong, Meia immediately followed Aidan out of the conference room. What confirmed it seconds before was when the power in the ship suddenly died. The emergency lighting came on in the corridors about a second later, backlighting them in an eerie red. It then occurred to her that the virus had caused this. She had begun to wonder why Reika would do this, until Aidan wanted guards to protect Maria. She was here to kill Maria.

She stopped as soon as Aidan did, in front of a pair of bodies. She knelt down and took a look at them, but she knew who they were. They were the pair sent to escort Reika. One was lying on her back, her throat shredded and a large pool of blood underneath her. If that didn't make her sick, what she saw next surely would. The other was laying face down, and when she turned the corpse over, she recoiled away from it and almost couldn't control her urge to vomit at the sight. The woman didn't have much of a face to make her recognizable. Only her bloodstained hair would give anything away. She looked away, and cold fear seemed creep inside her. _Was that nightmare going to come true?_

When she looked over at Aidan, he looked as though this didn't horrify or disturb him. His face was an impassive mask. Then again, he probably had seen his fair share of death, desensitizing him to it.

"Why would she do this?" she asked him.

"She's an assassin," he answered, thumbing off the safety of his gun. "There's not much time, let's move."

As he sprinted down the corridor, with her following she swore she heard him mutter 'I'll make that bitch pay.' _What did that mean, did he actually know this assassin?_

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_Where is she?_ The assassin was not in a good mood, not having located her target yet. As she moved down the darkened corridor, she noticed another pair of guards making their way towards her. She squeezed the trigger of her needler twice, adjusting her aim on her second shot. Both of the guards went down before they could react. One of them was still moving, so the assassin moved over the wounded woman and fired once.

"These Mejaleans are too soft," she muttered to herself.

Satisfied that both of them were dead, she started to move on before a crack filled the corridor, and she felt the pain of a bullet as it grazed her side. She dove around a corner and returned fire, not taking aim, firing just to keep her assailant at bay. She glanced over the corner and noticed that it was a dark-haired woman who'd shot at her. She quickly inspected her wound, and wasn't serious, only a scratch. She didn't have time to fight it out with this woman, so she quickly snapped off a couple of shots as she ran into a different corridor to avoid any return fire. She didn't care if her shots found their mark or not, because she had a mission to complete.

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"Who is that bitch anyway?" Barnette muttered as she clutched her side, which was bleeding.

The weapon that the woman was using was unlike any she had ever seen before. It felt as if several razor-sharp needles had torn into her side. She was lucky that wasn't a precise shot, or she'd be in worse trouble. She winced as another wave of biting pain reverberated through her body. Her breathing ragged, she leaned against the corridor and slumped to the floor. This is not the way she wanted to die. She couldn't staunch the blood seeping out of her wound, and it ran down her side and started to pool on the floor. _I'm not going to die this way!_

"Barnette!" a concerned Meia said as she ran up to her. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine… it's… just a scratch," she managed to say, her voice unable to conceal the fact that she was in a lot of pain.

"She's needs immediate medical attention," Aidan said to Meia.

"I told… you… I'm fine," she said defiantly, unable to hide her pain.

"No, you're not," he said sternly. "I'm familiar with the weapon the assassin is using, if you don't get help right now you're going to bleed to death."

"I'll call the doctor," Meia said, interrupting them.

"Where'd the assassin go?" Aidan asked Barnette.

"Assassin…? She went… that way," she said, pointing in the direction the assassin went.

"Good," Aidan said. "That bitch is mine."

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Maria sat at a table in the cafeteria, her face buried in her hands. She couldn't believe this was happening, but it evidently was. A lone assassin was on her way to kill her, and she'd heard several people had already died. All because of her, because of _who_ she was. Even the presence of two personnel standing to either side of her, nor the one near the door comforted her. She didn't feel all that safe, and there was almost no doubt in her mind that she was going to die. Dita sat right next to her, trying to comfort her. It wasn't working.

"It's alright, everything will be okay," Dita said, trying to make her feel better.

"No it won't!" she shot back. "She'll kill me, and probably you while she's at it."

"Don't say such things," Dita replied, shaking her head slightly.

"Why not? It's true!" she fairly shouted back.

Dita's reply was cut off by one of the guards pitching over onto the floor. They turned their attention just in time to see blood spray from the guard to their left. The other one tackled both of them to the floor as another shot hit the table, shattering the corner of it. She opened her eyes to that the security guard had taken part of the shot, as she was holding her bleeding shoulder. Maria slowly gained the courage to stand up, if she was going to die, she would face it, not cower. Who she saw next sent a wave of surprise through her.

"You…" she stammered.

"So, we meet again, Maria," the woman she knew as Reika replied.

"Why Reika, why are you doing this?" she asked, trembling with fear.

"That isn't my name, but you can call me that if you want," the assassin shrugged. "As for why I'm doing this, that's my business."

"But… why?" she asked again, knowing that she probably wouldn't get an answer.

"I told you, my business," the assassin replied, leveling her weapon at Maria. "I'm going to kill you now."

"NO!" Dita shouted as she placed herself between the assassin and Maria.

"Move, little girl, or I'll kill you too," the assassin said.

"I won't let you kill my friend," Dita said defiantly.

"Suit yourself," the assassin replied as her finger started to tighten on the trigger.

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_A sudden, blinding flash filled his vision, and an incredible force knocked him off of his feet. He felt a tearing, searing pain along his left arm. Once regaining his feet, he stumbled over to find Sakura lying on the ground, he dropped down on his knees beside her. He would never forget the life fading from her vibrant green eyes._

Aidan snapped out of it once he got sight of the entrance to the cafeteria. He saw the assassin walk in there after firing into it. He snapped off a couple of shots, and the assassin's response was diving further into the cafeteria, and into cover. He stopped right at the entrance and pressed his back to the wall, and Meia mirrored the action on the other side of the door.

He glanced over at Meia and nodded, and then charged through the door, gun at the ready. The assassin had already gotten behind cover, and he fired a few shots at the table as he ducked behind another table, intent on keeping her pinned down. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Maria standing there with Dita.

"What are you two still doing here? Get out of here now!" he ordered them as Meia started firing at the assassin with her ring.

"But-" Maria stammered.

"I said NOW, dammit!" he yelled at them, and Dita pulled Maria from the room. Satisfied that Maria was out of danger, he could finally exact his vengeance. He fired several more shots into the table, hoping that they would pound through and hammer the assassin. He slid back down behind the cover of the table and ejected the empty clip. It hit the floor with a hollow metal clang, smoke still wisping out of it.

"Do you have a plan?" Meia asked him as he slammed another clip into his weapon.

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"Hurry up," Barnette said sharply as Duero finished bandaging her wound.

"You don't rush something like this," Duero replied sternly.

"I have… to help them," she said through clenched teeth.

"You're not going to help anyone," Duero said. "I have to take you to the infirmary to properly treat your wound."

She picked up her gun and forced herself to stand. She felt Duero try to slightly restrain her, but she just shrugged him off. "I'm going to help them whether you want me to or not."

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It almost seemed to Aidan that he raised his head at the wrong time. Only the fact that she wasn't aiming prevented him from taking a shot to the face. As it stood, a few of the needle-like flechettes grazed his right cheek, creating a few small gashes. He hesitated for a second as the assassin got up. She was holding one of the security personnel, a knife to her throat.

"Both of you, get up slowly and drop your weapons," the assassin ordered them. "Or I'll open this girl's throat."

"Alright," Meia replied hesitantly, taking off her ring and tossing it away from her.

"Now you, soldier-boy," she said, bringing the blade closer to the woman's throat. "Drop it."

For a second he thought about refusing her threat, and just planting a bullet between her eyes, but when he glanced at her hostage, and saw her fear-filled eyes, he gave in. Briefly, it reminded him of the little girl he had slain, and slowly lowered his weapon, and dropped it. He then slid away from him with his foot. What happened next shot his anger to incredibly high levels.

"Thanks," the assassin said with mock sincerity and drew her knife across the woman's throat. In one deft move, she threw that same knife at Meia, who moved just at the time where it took her in the arm instead of the chest. She threw another knife at Aidan that no doubt came out of her sleeve, but he already ducked under it and drew his own knife from its sheath.

"I'll make you pay for that, you sadistic _bitch_," he growled. _And everything else you've done._

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Meia clenched her teeth and grunted in pain as she pulled the knife out of her left arm. After dropping the blood-slicked knife to the floor, she grabbed a hold of her wound to try and stop the bleeding. Her vision trailed to the knife-fight between Aidan and the assassin. Both of them slashing and striking out with their weapons, drawing minor nicks and cuts from either of them.

Glancing down, she noticed Aidan's gun lying on the floor, not too far from where she sat against the wall. Reaching out with her uninjured arm, she gripped it in her hand. It felt heavier than it looked, although that might have been from her weakened condition. She brought it up and struggled to aim it at the assassin, and was about to pull the trigger, but somebody else had beaten her to it. A loud bang sounded as a bullet caught the assassin in her knife arm, forcing her to release her grip on her dagger.

The assassin backed away from Aidan and tried to draw another knife, but this time Meia fired. She felt the gun kick with recoil and create an even louder sound than the other one. The shot tore into the assassin's left leg at knee level. The ten millimeter round shattered the assassin's knee, causing it to buckle. The assassin started to go down, and Aidan took advantage of it. He lunged forward and pinned the woman down onto a table. Meia lowered the gun and looked over to see Barnette leaning against the doorway, with her gun wavering in her hand.

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_This can't be happening! _The assassin screamed that in her mind as she felt her leg collapse under her weight. She wasn't in any position to attack, and her opponent knew it. She barely saw him charge forward, and before she knew it, she was slammed onto a table. The soldier was directly over her, and she mustered all her strength just to prevent him finishing her with his knife. With an injured arm, and her position on the table, she knew she was going to lose this struggle.

_But still, what happened?_ She had everything planned out, and if not for them finding out quickly, she would have succeeded. How did they find out so fast? She looked into the eyes of the man above, and they were filled with an intense hatred. With a clarity that only imminent death could bring, she realized it was this man who found her out. He had known, but how? Then suddenly, she thought back to when she had planted explosives at a military base.

She then saw a slightly younger version of him in her mind's eye, walking past her, and someone else was with him. A woman. That was where his intense hatred for her came from, she was sure. That explosion most likely killed that woman, and now it was his time for vengeance. She felt a sharp pain as the tip of the knife entered her throat, and he thrust it further into her neck. She felt like she couldn't breathe, and she started gagging and coughing up blood. She knew she was going to die, and the last thing her mind registered was his face, and the hatred burning in his steel gray eyes…

_This wasn't happening!_

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There, I changed it to where Aidan got to exact his revenge


	11. Chapter Ten: Decision

Disclaimer: I believe you know already.

**Vandread: The Unknown Soldier (Revised)**

**Chapter Ten: Decision**

_Location: Conference Room, Nirvana_

"This is a Solaris Arms Needle Pistol," Aidan said as he tossed the gun onto the table. "It fires several needle-like flechettes, a nasty weapon. I've used it once before."

"So what does this mean?" asked a grim-faced Magno.

"It means that the assassin was from Solaris," Aidan replied. After killing the assassin, a lot of the anger he felt had yet to bleed away.

"Which means the E.D.A. knows where we are," BC said.

"Most likely," he replied. "And after their bitch of an assassin doesn't report in, they'll probably come in with their whole damn fleet."

"So what?" Hibiki blurted out. "I'm ready for a fight, I'll take'em on."

"Do you think they are that easy?" Aidan replied, slightly irritated at his outburst. "From what I gather, you've never killed anyone before. Do you think you can? They are nothing like the Earthers."

"So wha-"

"We need to come up with a plan," Meia said, interrupting Hibiki's reply.

"I agree," he replied as he looked over at Meia. "I can provide information on their tactical doctrine, as well as specifications for certain weapons they use."

"Are we in danger of being attacked?" Magno asked.

"Isn't that already obvious? They sent an assassin that tried to off Maria, and now that that has failed, they'll try a more direct approach," Aidan said, obviously irritated. _A lot of these people are idiots._

"It's all… your fault," Barnette accused, her voice barely audible, then growing in strength. "It's all your fault."

"How is it my fault?" Aidan replied, anger edging his voice.

"If it wasn't for you and that damn girl, none of this would have ever happened," Barnette said, trying to pin him with a venomous stare. "A lot of people I knew and called friends died."

"Keep in mind, I never wanted to be on this goddamn ship in the first place," he said, glaring at her coldly.

"That doesn't change the fact that you could have prevented all this," she accused him. "They still would be alive-"

Aidan laughed harshly, "So, your dislike of me is why you try to blame me, how pathetic."

"You would know nothing, being the cold-hearted bastard you obviously are," she shot back at him. "You wouldn't know what it was like to lose friends."

Aidan felt his anger come back full force, and in a few quick strides, placed himself in front of Barnette. He grabbed hold of the collar of her suit and slammed her against the wall. "Don't even think I don't know what losing friends feels like. I was in that damn city Augusta. I saw horrors there that haunt me even today. One of my friends had a wife and a three-year old little girl, and I saw him blasted apart as a tank overran our position. He did that, saving me from that fate, and I don't even have a family. Do you call that fair?"

He continued his verbal attack, his fury unabated. "Tell me, how would you feel if that blonde woman next to you died from a bomb planted by that very assassin, and you were the one spared. I felt exactly that way when I saw Sakura die, and she died for no goddamn reason at all, just because some cowardly bitch had planted a bomb. And she was the only reason I cared about living at all. So don't you fucking tell me that I don't know what it's like, you bitch."

"Aidan, release her," Magno commanded sternly.

He ignored her command until she repeated it a second time. He then slowly released his grip on her, but still stared at her, fury in his eyes. "Think about that, because next time you accuse me of something like this, you won't be so lucky next time." He then turned and faced Magno, his eyes colder than ice. "And I don't take orders from _you_."

He then turned and started to walk away, but stopped when he heard the sound of a gun preparing to fire. He knew who it was, but he didn't even bother to turn and look at her. "Go ahead, it won't matter. I'm already dead." Without another word, he walked out of the room.

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Like everyone else present, Meia was stunned by Aidan's sudden outburst. She knew that Aidan and Barnette never liked each other, and this just made matters worse. She also noticed, that when he spoke, she could hear a faint accent, one she couldn't place. That mattered little, for now. What was kind of awkward was that she actually felt sorry for him. She knew what it was like to lose someone you cared for. She should dislike him as well, because he had just threatened Barnette and told off the Captain, but she couldn't bring herself to do that. She watched him as he exited the room, and not long after, there was a long drawn out silence. It was then she noticed something on the floor. She walked over and picked it up, and opened it.

Inside it was a picture that showed a group of soldiers standing together, wearing gray combat fatigues. She immediately recognized Aidan, who was in the center of the picture. There were three other men and a woman in the picture. One of the men was taller and more muscular, with brush-cut blonde hair. The man next to him was just slightly shorter that Aidan, with short, light brown hair. The last man, who was on the other side of the woman had dark hair and a somewhat cold expression. Her eyes focused primarily on the woman standing next Aidan with her arm around his neck. She was just as young as Aidan in the picture, she was shorter than Aidan, and her black hair was back in a ponytail, with green eyes._ This must have been Sakura…_

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_The ground shook as concrete cracked and crumbled underneath the weight of the machine treading over it. Aidan as well as one other scrambled to get out of the way as the massive vehicle treaded through the intersection. Its body was angled, and the turret on top resembled some kind of monster. It's treads continued to devour the ground, like some hungry demon with an insatiable appetite._

_Two soldiers hurriedly got out of the way of the massive tracked monster, one almost getting his legs crushed. Both of them then dived for cover in a makeshift trench. The tank had just overrun their position, and they needed to do something about it. Aidan was going to do something about it. He motioned for the soldier next to him, who was named Dirk, to follow him._

"_Alright, we need to get rid of that monster," he said to Dirk. "Or we'll be in trouble."_

"_How do you propose we do it?" Dirk asked him, clutching his rifle._

"_We need to either blow out its treads, or kill the crew," Aidan said._

"_I follow," Dirk replied as he glanced at the tank. "What do you wa- Get down!"_

_Before Aidan knew it, he was roughly shoved to the ground, and an intense heat washed over him. A few moments later, he came to, and a burnt smell reached his nostrils. After refocusing his vision, and he looked up into the bleak, gray sky. There was lingering heat emanating from him. After regaining all of his senses, he felt something lying on top of him. He looked down at it, and saw that it was a charred corpse. Revulsion overtook him as he shoved it off of him. He slowly got to his feet, and it took him a second to realize something. Dirk had shoved him out of the way, taking the shot from the tank that was meant for him. He saw that the tank was now farther down the street. _

"_Why did you…" Aidan asked him silently. _I had no family, yet you had a wife and daughter. It wasn't fair, it wasn't fair! _Anger began to replace disgust, and he was going to make them pay for killing his friend._

_Screaming his inarticulate rage, he picked up his rifle and charged for the tank, which was now in front of him, facing away. Thinking him dead, the tank commander had made his mistake. Once he was at the tank, he grabbed onto the rear handhold and climbed onto the vehicle. In a few seconds he was on top of the turret. The commander popped the hatch, and looked to see what was wrong. _

"_Take this, you bastard!" Aidan screamed as he smashed his boot into the man's face, and fired into the turret, killing the commander. He then, pulled the pin on a grenade and threw it down into the interior. He then jumped off the tank, and scrambled for cover. An explosion followed a second later, sending a gout of fire and smoke shooting out the hatch.._

The fighting had been like that for several weeks, close-quarters and extremely chaotic. Near the final week, the commander ordered a complete withdrawal from the city and had it razed from orbit. He was torn from these memories by someone approaching where stood, leaning against the railing that overlooked the garden. He looked back slightly and noticed Meia come up to him.

"Do you mind if I join you?" she asked.

"No, I don't mind," he replied.

"I believe this belongs to you," she said as she handed him his wallet. "You dropped it back in the conference room."

"Thanks," he replied as he took it. "Did you look inside it?"

"Yes," she replied as she glanced down, then back up.

"She was a friend, no, she was more than that," he said, referring to Sakura. "When she died, I felt as though part of me was ripped apart and thrown away, and I seriously didn't care about my life. I joined special forces not long after, thinking I had nothing left to lose."

"I know how you feel, because I lost my mother when I was very young," Meia said, placing a hand on his arm.

"For some reason, you're the only one I can seem to talk to," Aidan said.

For the first time in a while, Meia felt her face get red with embarrassment. She quickly looked down to avoid his gaze. Composing herself, she looked back up and replied. "It's no problem. Will you be alright?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine," he replied, a smile creasing his lips. "Don't worry about it."

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Now that they were the only ones in the conference room, Magno consulted with her subordinates, BC and Gascogne. They were trying to figure out their next course of action.

"So what do you think we should do?" Magno asked them.

"If what he says is true, and they do know where we are, we should go on the move," Gascogne said. "Make it harder for them to find us."

"True, but I believe we will eventually have to face them," BC countered. "So I propose that we link up with the fleet that still opposes the E.D.A. and help them fight."

"Do we even know the general area of where this fleet is located?" Gascogne asked.

"No, but I think it is a better alternative that running from them," BC replied.

"Very well," Magno said. "Gascogne, do you have any problem with this proposition?"

"No, I do not, Captain," Gascogne replied.

"They crossed the line with that assassin, so we are going to help them get rid of the E.D.A. They will find out what happens when you mess with pirates," Magno said with a grim smile.

_The decision had been made…_

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Feedback appreciated.


	12. Chapter Eleven: Tactics

Disclaimer: Vandread belongs to Gonzo. All music lyrics copyright to their original owners.

**Vandread: The Unknown Soldier (Revised)**

**Chapter Eleven: Tactics**

_Location: Men's Gym, Nirvana._

_It's taken me all of my anger_

_And taken me all of my hate_

_To learn how my life came together_

_Releasing the demons again_

_(Releasing the Demons- Godsmack)_

It seems this was one of only a few ways to release his anger. Aidan repeatedly hammered the bag hard enough for it to strain its mount on the ceiling. He slammed his gloved fists into the bag, not even considering letting up. He was trying the banish most of the memories from the past few days. Those few days had been mostly hell, with several painful memories resurfacing. The most painful memory was the death of Sakura.

A loud, roaring sound, followed a split second later by an incredible wall of force. Being knocked off of his feet, the searing pain along his arm. Seeing Sakura lying on the ground, seeing her blood on his hands, watching her life fade away while she was in his arms. Screaming her name, then falling unconscious moments later. He had survived, while she had died. It wasn't fair! Even after avenging her death, none of the pain he felt went away. _All because of that damn bitch of an assassin. She took Sakura from me…_

He stopped his assault on the bag and slammed his fist into the wall next to it. He fought to control his emotions, because he was determined to show no weakness to these pirates. _Why am I always haunted by these painful memories?_ He punched the wall again, ignoring the pain that lanced up and down his arm. _She's been gone for years now, and there is nothing I can do to bring her back. I never got to tell her…_

"Dammit, dammit, dammit!" he yelled as he hit the wall yet again, then dropped his arms and clenched his fists. "Sakura…"

It took a few moments for him to realize that something was beeping. Focusing himself, he looked over and noticed it was his wrist communicator. He walked over, picked it up and activated it.

"Aidan here," he said into it as he wiped the sweat from his face.

"You are needed in the tactical briefing room," BC said.

"I'll be there in fifteen," he replied, then shut it off, not waiting for a response. Tossing it back onto the bench, he picked up a towel and headed for the showers.

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Sitting alone in her darkened room, Maria brooded over what had happened just two days ago. She was sitting on her bed, with her legs drawn up to her chest. She had believed it was all her fault, all _her fault_. Yesterday she had found out that one of the pilots had gotten into an argument with Aidan, and had also blamed her. If it weren't for her, all of those people would have lived instead of died. She grimly wished the assassin would have killed her, so she wouldn't have to deal with all of this. She brought her head up when she heard a knock at her door. She managed to compose herself.

"Who is it?" she asked weakly.

"It's me, Dita," came the reply. "May I come in?"

"I'd like to be left alone, if you don't mind," she replied.

"But…" Dita said.

"I said I want to be left alone!" Maria said sharply, raising her voice. "Now go away!"

Once she was fairly certain Dita had left, she resumed her sulking.

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Hibiki sat in the open cockpit of his Vanguard, his _partner_. He was performing maintenance, and getting ready for the upcoming fight against the E.D.A. He knew he'd to be ready for anything, so he wouldn't leave anything to chance. He had never fought and killed an actual human being in close-combat, in or out of his Vanguard. He thoroughly checked over every system, making sure he did not miss a thing. He knew he'd be ready.

"These people gave up their humanity when they sided with Earth," he said bitterly.

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After looking over the tactical simulation program for perhaps the twentieth time, it was beginning to tire her out. Or that is what Meia had thought. She was trying to devise a plan to combat the E.D.A. forces, and the information from Aidan had proven helpful. It consisted of tactics and equipment specifications for certain vessels and fighters. But she still felt some part of the plan wasn't perfect. She was beginning to find it hard to focus, for drowsiness was starting to set in.

She rubbed her eyes, and glanced at her wrist chronometer. From what it displayed, it was well past midnight. She assumed that almost everyone was asleep, exempting a few. She rested her gaze back onto the monitor, intent on completing the battle plan. For a second she forgot she wasn't alone in the room, as someone walked up behind her. She turned her head to look, and noticed Aidan, holding two steaming mugs in his hands.

"Thought you could use this," he said as handed her one of the mugs of tea.

"Thanks," she said in reply as she accepted the mug, and then took a sip of the warm liquid.

"Looks like a sound strategy," he said as he looked over the plan.

"Still need to work out a few bugs," she admitted.

"Back on Solaris, when I commanded a special ops team, I had to help come up with operational planning," he said, glancing up from the screen. "But nowhere near this scale."

"Special ops?" she asked, showing a little interest.

"Yeah, special operations," he replied. "Soldiers trained to perform specialized missions where normal troops couldn't, or wouldn't be practical. Such operations include infiltration, rescue and extraction, search and destroy, and elimination of key targets."

"Elimination of key targets," she said. "Does that mean what I think it means?"

"Yes, it does," he replied, anger creeping slightly into his voice. "Assassination."

"Did you…" she paused, not sure whether or not to go further.

"Once," he replied bitterly. "And I still remember it, even though I don't want to."

"Oh, I'm sorry," she apologized. "I didn't mean to…"

"Sorry about what?" he said as he looked her in the eye. "It was in the past, there's no need to be."

For several long moments, an awkward silence dragged on. Almost without realizing it, they were both staring at each other. After realizing it, she looked away the same time he did, trying to hide the fact that she was blushing.

"Well, I guess I'll let you finish up here," he said as he exited the room after another painfully long minute.

_What is this feeling?_ She was puzzled at the feeling she was now having. She had never had such a feeling before. _Am I actually feeling an attraction towards him? Is it even possible?_

She contemplated this awkward feeling as she stood there, now the only one in the room.

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_What is it about her that reminds me of Sakura?_ As he walked down the darkened corridor, he contemplated on that particular thought. It had bugging him since the first time he'd met her on the Artemis. _Was it her looks?_ _Her personality?_ Sure, Meia had an attractive figure, he admitted that much. It's not her hair, as Sakura's was shoulder-length and black, a stark contrast to Meia's sapphire blue. They were both of similar height, but that was not it. As he stopped in front of his room, it suddenly hit him. It was her eyes! She had the same strong, striking green eyes as Sakura.

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Sitting in his Captain's Chair, Gunter Argust repeatedly tapped his finger on the armrest. He was in command of a task force that was sent to hunt down the S.D.S. Artemis, the heretic vessel which contained the heretic leader's daughter. He grinned to himself as he remembered the death of the Prime Minister, a fitting end for the bastard. At the same time he cursed the soldiers that failed to kill his daughter.

He was the Captain of the E.D.A battle cruiser Indomitable, one of the few Invincible Class vessels created. He was in overall command of six other vessels. Those vessels included three Intrepid Class destroyers, two Essex Class frigates, and a Hunter Class Patrol Ship. Last he had known, the Artemis had gone off course and was rumored to be somewhere in this system. He was determined to find that ship, no matter what it took.

"Report contacts," he ordered the sensor operator.

"Negative on contacts, sir," the operator replied.

"Damn," he muttered as he continued tapping his finger on the chair's arm.

The silence dragged on for the next twenty minutes, and Gunter was beginning to lose his patience. It was only interrupted by the beeping sounds coming from the computer terminals. Then, without warning, the sensor operator reported a contact.

"Contact, we have unknown vessel approximately one thousand kilometers in front of the fleet."

"Is it the Artemis?" he queried.

"Negative, sir," the operator replied. "It does not match the specifications of an Essex Class. It doesn't match any known vessel in our databanks."

"Magnify the image," Argust commanded. A few seconds later the image of a large silver ship appeared on the display screen. It had a large upper section connected to a smaller one, and appeared to have extensions that appeared to be arms on either side. It was an elegant ship, one that was intended for battle.

The ship looked familiar, he pondered. A few moments later he figured out exactly what it was. It was the infamous Mejalean ship that defeated the Earth forces at various points across the galaxy. It was named the Nirvana, if he could recall correctly. Now here was something more important than finding the Artemis.

"Battle stations! General quarters!" he bellowed, then shifted to another series of commands. "Charge the laser batteries, load the missile tubes, and notify the rest of the fleet. We are going into battle."

"Sir?" one of the techs replied, unsure of the command.

"I gave you an order! I expect it to be carried out!"

He barely acknowledged the tech's reply as he intently watched the vessel in front of him. _In the name of Earth, I will make you pay for your crimes, you heretics._

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"An unidentified fleet has just appeared dead ahead of our location!" Belvedere fairly shouted.

"Who are they!" BC asked.

"They match the identification of the E.D.A.," Amarone replied.

"How many are there?" Magno asked.

"I count at least seven ships, and almost a hundred fighter craft," Bel stated, unable to conceal her surprise.

"Damn," BC muttered. "Meia?"

"Here," came back Meia's reply as she showed up on screen.

"Mobilize the Dread Teams, we have multiple incoming hostiles with the markings of the E.D.A."

"Understood," Meia replied as she cut the connection.

_It had begun._

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Feedback appreciated.


	13. Chapter Twelve: Chaos

Disclaimer: I don't own Vandread, and I never will.

**Vandread: The Unknown Soldier (Revised)**

**Chapter Twelve: Chaos**

_Location: Cockpit, Aidan's Striker._

With a whine from it's leg actuators, the Striker went from a kneeling position to a standing one. Aidan, strapped into the cockpit, checked the controls one more time. The targeting and communications systems were working perfectly. The sensors and the weapons panel were both operating normally. Every other system also reported green, he was ready. He motioned his Striker to move to the launch catapult, and mounted the mecha onto it. He felt the force push him back as he launched. These fanatics lives were worthless, and he intended to prove that to them.

It was time for a little payback…

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Feeling as though she were shoved from the Nirvana by a giant's hand, Meia felt the force push her back into her seat as her Dread launched. She made sure all team leaders knew what they were supposed to do. She took up position next to Jura in the formation. Seven enemy vessels, somewhere between fifty and seventy fighters, this was going to be a tough fight No matter what, she was going to make sure the outcome was victory.

"Alright, you know the plan, Dread Team leaders, keep a tight reign on your team. Now let's show them what we're made of!"

In response, there was a chorus of 'Rogers!' A 'hell yeah' from Hibiki, and a simple 'affirmative' from Aidan. A second later, they leapt into action, intent on repaying them for their cowardly assassination attempt.

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Gripping his fighter's controls, Xander Sharr grinned as the enemy fighters advanced. It had been awhile since he had last fought in an engagement. He was ecstatic about going into battle against the heretics that defeated the Earth's forces. He considered it an honor, for he would be one of them to erase this blight upon the universe. He along with many other, pilots, thrust forward into battle as well, intent on repaying them in kind. The battle had now commenced…

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Captain Gunter Argust watched the battle unfold from his command chair. The fight was looking to be brutal, with neither side wanting to give in or let up. He found it hard to tell if an exploding fighter was one of his or theirs. What caught his eye a second later was a large blue machine. It was ripping through the fighters, and then it proceeded straight for the Hunter. Using two shoulder-mounted energy cannons, it tore a massive hole into and through the patrol ship's side. It escaped the following explosion that resulted from the rupturing of the ship's fusion drive.

_Could that be one of those weapons that combine?_ _If so, that could pose a threat. Not to worry, for I have an ace up my sleeve…_

"Begin the charging sequence for the device," he ordered a technician.

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"Meia, on your left!" Jura's shout barely registered as a deafening shudder rang throughout her fighter.

Shaking off the light blow, Meia reflexively dodged the next series of shots that were aimed at her. She allowed the enemy fighter to dart past her, and she acquired a lock, she fired several missiles that streaked in towards their target. The fighter tried to pull away, but was too slow. The missiles struck the rear of the fighter, engulfing it in an explosion that lasted no more than a second.

"Team Leaders, tighten up your formations, don't let yourselves get scattered!" she commanded.

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Aidan used his Striker's thrusters to maneuver out of the enemy fighter's firing arc. He then took advantage of it by hammering several slugs into the body of the craft, creating a jagged line from fuselage to tail. He immediately thrust downward, avoiding the enemy fighter just by a few meters.

"Damn," he muttered. "I forgot how crazy these bastards can be."

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a pair of Intrepid destroyers move forward to engage. He knew they both were formidable ships, able to give better than they can take. He saw them open up with several laser volleys, their green beams searing through space to hammer the Nirvana's shields. The Nirvana's shields had just taken a pounding, and were appearing to weaken. That ship wouldn't be able to stand up to them if that battle cruiser and the three other ships moved to engage. He was thrown back into the battle by the sound of a lock-on alarm.

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With a feral grin of satisfaction, Xander watched as his fighter's lasers tore into the trailing fighter, destroying it. He actively searched for a new target, and located one not too far from his current location. There was a lone fighter, drifting from damage it received earlier in the fight. He scanned the crippled fighter, and found a single life sign. Apparently, the pilot was still alive, most likely wounded.

_Not for long._ He brought his weapons into line with the fighter, centering them on the cockpit. The bursts of laser fire melted through the cockpit, no doubt vaporizing the pilot inside. He took satisfaction in the fact that one more enemy of Earth was dead. A silver blur suddenly darted past him, before he had time to focus on it. _Damn! That was fast._

Now there was an enemy he had wanted to fight all along, someone with skill. He was tired of fighting these amateurs. _You're next,_ he promised the silver fighter.

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The formidable battle cruiser Indomitable had refrained from entering the battle. That was going to change in just a few moments. Captain Argust sat in his chair, showing a form a patience he did not feel. The charging sequence for the device was longer than it normally did. He impatiently tapped his finger on the arm of his chair.

"Is the device charged yet?" he asked, showing a hint of impatience.

"Almost, sir," the tech replied.

"Let me know as soon as it's ready," he said. _Soon you whelps will know what it means to be outmatched._

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Hibiki, along with Dita, tore into yet another ship, this time a frigate that looked just like the Artemis. The hole in the portside of the ship was leaking air like blood spurting from an open wound, as well as a number of bodies were disgorged from the wound on the ship.

Hibiki noticed that the largest ship, the battle cruiser, had held back from the fighting. He wondered why for a few seconds, why it had yet to move.

"If that's the enemy's flagship, then why are they not fighting?" Dita asked as she looked back at him.

"I don't know," he replied as they willed the Vandread to charge for the massive vessel. "But let's go wake'em up."

Although the battle cruiser sat motionless in space, it was in no way out of the fight. Before they could reach it, a massive sphere of electrical light expanded around it. The sphere engulfed the ships that were nearest to it, but it seemed to have no effect on them. But when it connected with the Vandread, it set off a series of electrical surges throughout the Vandread. As a result, several systems started to short out, and then something else happened. After a few seconds, the Vanguard and the Dread split, reacting like polar opposites of a magnet. It sent them spinning out of control.

"What the hell just happened!" Hibiki said in disbelief.

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As Bart began to lock on to multiple targets to fire the Nirvana's main weapon, the system suddenly shut off and Bart was thrown out of the helm and onto the deck of the bridge. The ball of electrical energy had just hit the Nirvana, deactivating several systems and shorting out others. Amarone instinctively put her hands in front of her face to shield against the sparks.

"What the hell just happened!" BC asked.

"I don't know," Bart said. "I was just locking on with the targeting system when it went dead. A second, I was thrown out of the helm."

"Commander, we've just lost the shields!" Belvedere reported in an excited, worried voice.

"Commander, it appears that it happened when we were hit by that massive ball of electricity," Celtic Midori reported. "It appears to have affected Vandread Dita as well."

"This is bad," Magno said grimly. "We have to retreat."

"Bart! Get back in the helm and see if you can get the ship to move," BC ordered. "All Dreads, your orders are to fall back to the Nirvana, we are retreating."

Just as Bart managed to get the ship to turn, a destroyer closed in for the kill. A pair of large, anti-ship missiles leapt from launch tubes on either side of the vessel's blunt nose. They struck the Nirvana in the starboard arm. The resulting explosions ripped a massive hole in the side of the ship. Several laser beams came in a second later and did even more damage.

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_Dammit! This wasn't happening!_ As the controls started to become sluggish, Meia cursed under her breath. All this started to happen when that electrical field had hit her Dread. She knew that it would make her an easier target to pick off. That fighter that had been pursuing her would definitely take advantage of it. She knew it was a strong possibility that she was going to die, even though she had no desire to so. She saw as the enemy fighter came even closer…

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Xander knew he would get credit for this kill, and he knew it even more when the enemy fighter started to become sluggish. He was going in for the kill. He kicked his fighter into over thrust, pushing the craft to its limits. He heard the sweet sound of a target lock, and his fingers started to tighten on their firing stud. Then suddenly, without any warning, a lone Striker darted into his field of vision. The mecha held it's vibrosword horizontally, somewhat across it's torso. As he was at full thrust, there was almost no way that he could avoid the blow that would come next.

He barely had enough time to register the sickening crunch that reverberated in his cockpit as the blade sliced through the canopy, then taking his head off a split second later. The now dead fighter, carried by the momentum of its thrust, collided with the waist of the Striker. As a result, the lower half of the machine was torn off and thrown forward as the fighter veered off into space.

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Trying to a keep a grip on his controls proved very difficult for Aidan as he was violently thrown around in the cockpit. The straps of his safety harness dug into his shoulders as the Striker careened out of control. Sparks shot through the cockpit, and then something exploded. He felt a searing pain as white-hot shrapnel tore into the right half of his body, as well as the crunching sound of his ribs as they slammed into the arm of his command couch. His consciousness started to fade rapidly, and his vision dimmed. He felt the cold embrace of death, and he managed to weakly mutter something before he went into total blackness.

"Sakura…"

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"Captain, they appear to be withdrawing," the helmsman reported. "Shall we pursue?"

After a few moments of thought, Captain Gunter Argust made his decision, even though he did not like it.

"No, we hold here and see to the repairs and the wounded."

"Understood, sir."

"Send out the recovery teams," he ordered. "Besides, they know they can't win against our might."

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Feedback is always appreciated. Let me know what you think.


	14. Chapter Thirteen: Memories, Part One

Disclaimer: For the forty-fourth damn time, I don't own Vandread. All song lyrics copyright to their original owners.

Author's Note: There is some intense violence in this one, and prepare for a long read.

**Vandread: The Unknown Soldier (Revised)**

**Chapter Thirteen: Memories, Part One**

_Location: Corridor leading to Infirmary, Nirvana._

"Multiple lacerations due to shrapnel, and at least three cracked ribs. And he's lost a lot of blood as well," Duero said in a rushed voice as he pushed the gurney which contained Aidan Mercer.

Meia ran along with him, replaying those final moments in her head. He had intercepted the enemy fighter that was bearing down on her. He sliced through it with his sword, but was slammed by the careening fighter. The whole bottom half of his machine had been torn off. Any higher and it would've torn through the cockpit. His injuries were pretty severe, and she noticed a good amount of blood in the cockpit as she had helped pull him out of his wrecked machine.

"Clear the emergency room!" Duero shouted as they entered the infirmary. "We need to stabilize his condition immediately."

She backed off to let Duero do his work. She seriously hoped he would be alright. Why did he do something stupid like that? Someone like him would have known better, but he did it anyway. He did it to protect her, even though he did not know her all that well, well, not as much as the woman named Sakura, anyway…

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Drifting on the edge of unconsciousness, Aidan still felt the extreme pain throughout his body. It didn't feel like the painkillers were doing all that well. He tried to fight it off, but the pull of the drugs he'd been given, as well as the fact that he'd been drifting in and out of consciousness, begged to differ. It wasn't long before he was completely unconscious, and old and painful memories began to resurface…

Age: 10

Gripping his mother tighter as the vibrations reverberated throughout the ship, Aidan wished he wasn't even on this vessel. As they had been on the Space Station Gloria at the time of the attack, they were being evacuated with the rest of the civilians and noncombatants. Before long the frontline had been broken through, and the Earth attackers had penetrated to the rear. They were now in the middle of that very attack.

His mother tried to comfort him, but it hardly helped as Aidan saw a warship collapse in on itself after receiving heavy fire. His father was currently helping treat some of the wounded in the room, as he was a doctor. Another hit to the hull sent a violent tremor throughout the ship. He could hear a wounded man's screams on the other side of the room.

Then, almost without warning, an ear-splitting screech sounded throughout the room. Almost a second later, a whole section of the wall just exploded out and away from the ship. The vacuum began to rapidly suck anything out that wasn't bolted down. Aidan's ears popped from the sudden decrease in air pressure. He saw his father hit an exposed support bar of the ship, breaking his back, and throwing his limp body out into space like a rag doll

A few seconds later he was torn from his mother's grip as the vacuum consumed her too. He was about to receive that same fate, but a strong pair of arms wrapped around him and pulled him away seconds before the airlock shut, sealing off the room from the rest of the ship. He looked up, his eyes full of tears, to see that a soldier was the one who saved him from the same fate as his parents.

"Hey, kid," the soldier said. "Get a hold of yourself!"

He immediately sobered up from the blunt remark by the man.

"There was nothing you could have done," the soldier told him. He would remember those words for the rest of his life.

Age: 12

Located on the predominantly uninhabited continent on Solaris, was Training Facility # 35. This facility consisted of several slab-sided structures, a tarmac for aerospace craft and vehicles. There was the officer's quarters, then there was the barracks, which housed the trainees. There was also a vehicle hangar, which housed the various military vehicles. The final structure was the most important one, for it housed all of the requirements and necessities for training soldiers. There was also an expansive area around the facility, which consisted of a parade ground, for marching and ceremonies, several obstacle courses, and a firing range. The entire facility was cordoned off by a seven meter tall laser fence.

Aidan had just walked out of the briefing room, going over in his head what the commanding officer of the facility had said. They had been welcomed, for they were the newest batch of recruits. There was no say in it for most of them, for most of them were orphans around the same age as Aidan. They would be spending all of their remaining childhood years at this facility, and most of their teenage years. That was just fine for Aidan, for he had no where else to go. He had no desire to live in some rundown orphanage, and besides, serving in the military was far more productive.

He still remembered his parents' deaths, but had mostly gotten over it. He would have to be strong, and he need not be remembering the past. It was somewhat of an enigma, for the Earth forces left the system, even though it looked as though they would win. No one knew why they had left, but they were all relieved. Part of the reason for joining the military was so he could get revenge for the death of his parents on the Earthers, when, not if, they came back. He was knocked back to reality as he collided with someone.

"Oh, I'm sorry," a young girl said.

As focused his vision, he noticed the girl appeared to be around his age, and she had raven black hair that came to about mid-back.

"No," he replied. "It was my fault, I wasn't paying attention."

"My name is Sakura," she said. "What's yours?"

"A-Aidan," he replied. "My name's Aidan."

"Nice to meet you Aidan," she said with a smile.

Age: 16

"Hey, Aidan!" yelled over the sound of gunfire as she jogged over to him. Her hair had been cut to just above shoulder-length, to adhere more to regulations. They had become very good friends in the four years since they met.

In the middle of target practice, Aidan had just finished emptying the handgun's magazine into the target. He ejected the empty clip and set the gun down as he turned to face her. "Hey, Sakura, what are you up to?"

"Guess what?" she asked expecting him to guess.

"What?" was his only reply.

"Come on, guess," she said, this time a little more adamantly.

"I give up," he said, not even attempting. "What?"

"You're no fun," she grumbled. "Well, I got accepted into the Striker Training Program!"

"Good for you," he said, genuinely impressed. It wasn't easy to become a pilot of one of those combat mecha. "I couldn't bring myself to pilot one of those things."

"Why not?" she asked.

"Too complicated," he replied as he picked up the handgun. "I'll stick with the infantry."

"Well, I have other duties to perform," she said after a moment. She patted Aidan on the shoulder. "I'll see ya later."

"Yeah, later," he said as he resumed target practice.

Age: 17

"What the hell is this?" the Drill Sergeant said in his usual commanding voice. "What a pitiful excuse of sad sacks we have here!"

Aidan stood at rigid attention in line as the drill sergeant went down the line, examining his charges. From what Aidan knew, drill sergeants were always like that. They were supposed to be like that to help effectively train them into efficient soldiers. He had just started boot camp three days before his birthday, and he was beginning to dislike it. But something about this one seemed to strike Aidan as something odd. That would be proven when after the sergeant had stopped just in front of him in the line.

"I don't like you," the drill sergeant growled, looking him up and down. "Name, maggot!"

"Aidan Mercer. Sir!" he replied.

"Well then, Mercer, hit me," the sergeant barked.

"Sir?" Aidan replied, slightly confused.

"Are you deaf! I said hit me!" he ordered, this time even louder.

Before Aidan could do what the sergeant ordered, he saw a blur from the corner of his eye. A second later Aidan felt the solid connection of a punch on his jaw and then fell heavily to the ground. He felt the coppery taste of blood in his mouth, as he started to get up. He spit out some blood on his way back up. Then the sergeant made an object lesson of him.

"See this," the sergeant said in a booming voice. "When I give you an order, I expect it to be carried out immediately. You do not hesitate or question my orders. Do I make myself clear? I can't hear you!"

"Sir, yes sir!" Aidan replied loudly as he took his place in line. He felt blood running down from the corner of his mouth, but he wouldn't wipe it away. He didn't want to show this man any weakness.

"That applies to all of you worthless maggots, as well," the sergeant bellowed turning to face the rest of them.

"Sir, yes sir!" the rest of them replied loudly.

------------

Aidan ducked under the round kick that was aiming for his head, and grabbed hold of his opponent's leg. He twisted it, forcing his opponent to move along with it or end up with a broken leg. His opponent hit the mat then got back to his feet, ready to defend against attack. Aidan then went on the offensive, delivering a couple of punches that were meant to decoy his opponent. And it worked, for his opponent blocked the punches easily but did not account for his legs. His right leg scythed out and hit his opponent in the ribs.

Momentarily stunned, his opponent couldn't counter Aidan's backfist, which connected with the side of his padded helmet. Aidan's opponent backed off, trying to put some distance between them. Focusing himself, the man charged at Aidan, intending to end the match. Aidan dropped down and used his opponent's momentum to hurl him off the mat with one leg and his arms. That signaled an end to the match, and Aidan walked over and helped his opponent to his feet.

"Good, Mercer," the hand-to-hand combat instructor said. "You've improved."

"Thank you, sir," he said, stoically accepting the compliment. He then turned to face his opponent. "Good match, Damon."

"Yeah, good match," Damon Hunter replied.

Age: 18

"I am Colonel Karl Vandenburg, and I'd like to be the first to welcome you to the Seventy-First Solaris Dragoons, to the Black Tigers."

Aidan stood two rows back in the large group of soldiers that had just been assigned to this particular unit. The Seventy-First Solaris Dragoons, or more commonly known as the Black Tigers, were a combined-arms regiment. Such a unit had a mix of troops and hardware, and were trained to support each section. This unit had a mix of ground armor, infantry, artillery, mecha, and even aircraft, primarily gunships and dropships.

Now that he was assigned to an active combat unit, and out of training, he could enter actual combat. Recent news reports stated that a group labeling itself, 'Earth's Divine Army' was starting to become very militant. They were made up of people who had believed that the Earthers were in the right. It appalled Aidan that people would actually support Earth's efforts. He saw such people as misguided fanatics. He knew that they would probably be going into action in a month or so. But first they had to undergo integration exercises, to make them into an effective combat unit.

He also found out that he, Sakura, and Damon, were all being assigned to this unit. He was glad to have Sakura in the same unit, because recently they had become close, even though he knew it was frowned upon by the military. He didn't care what the military thought on that. She was a Striker pilot, one of several assigned to this unit, and he was in the infantry. He didn't know what she saw in those things, but that was her decision, and he'd supported it. Little did he know that in the course of the next few months, the events that would take place would test his resolve, as well as his emotions…

------------

"So, you must be one of the new guys," Aidan heard someone behind him say. Setting his duffel bag down on his bunk, Aidan turned to see who said that.

He saw a man that was most likely in his mid-twenties, with dirty blond hair. He offered his hand to Aidan.

"Yeah, and you are?" Aidan replied, shaking the man's hand.

"Name's Dirk," the man said.

"Aidan," he replied.

"Quit harassing the newbies," someone said from the doorway.

"Yeah right, Steiner," Dirk said, turning to face the man. "You're one to talk."

"Who's that?" Aidan asked Dirk.

"His name is Heinrich Steiner," Dirk replied. "But he prefers to be called Steiner."

From what Aidan saw of him, he was tall and big. Not in any obese way either. This guy looked to be pure muscle. His eyes were blue in color, and his hair was blond, and was styled in what was called a brush-cut. He was impressive, to say the least, the exact opposite of Dirk, who was lanky compared to him. He had no desire to get on that man's bad side.

------------

"Are you ready?" Aidan asked, already in a defensive stance. He wore a black tank top and a pair of blue baggy sweatpants. Padded gloves and boots made up his sparring gear.

"As I'll ever be," Sakura replied, mimicking Aidan's stance. She was dressed similarly. She also had her hair tied back, out of the way, with a few bangs still trailing in front of her brow.

They stood an equal distance apart on the mat. They had the gym to themselves at the moment, and they were brushing up on their hand-to-hand skills.

"Your move," Aidan said after a moment.

"How kind of you," she said with a smirk.

With quickness and fluidity, Sakura lunged forward, putting Aidan immediately on the defensive. Aidan had learned that she'd like to use her legs a lot, so he had to watch out of for those. She threw several quick punches that he mostly blocked, then threw a side kick that was intended to hit him in the side, but instead hit him in the arm. Not wanting to stay on the defensive, Aidan immediately threw a quick right-handed punch, but hit nothing but air.

_Damn! She's quicker than I thought. _He had to pin her now before she shifted him off-balance. When she threw another kick, he grabbed her outstretched leg, then hooked his foot around her other leg and pulled it toward him. Then he pushed forward, letting her fall onto her back. He pinned her to the mat and used his weight to keep her from moving her legs.

"Do you give in?" he asked her as he held her to the mat. She managed to get one leg free and kneed him in the stomach. He reflexively loosened his grip on her and she took advantage of it. She used his slight movement to push him off of her and onto his back.

"The real question is, do you give in, love?" Sakura said playfully as she pinned him to the mat.

He could feel her body heat as her chest pressed against his. He grinned as he put his arms around her waist. She responded by brushing his lips with a light kiss. "Alright, I accept defeat."

"Are you two lovebirds finished over there?" someone said from the other side of the gym.

Sakura immediately got off of Aidan, allowing him to get up as well. Aidan looked over to see Dirk leaning against the wall.

"How long have you been there?" Aidan asked, letting a hint of irritation seep into his voice.

"Long enough," he replied.

"I have a duty shift in an hour, and I need to go freshen up," Sakura said, taking off her gloves and boots. "I'll see you later, Aidan."

"Later," he replied as he watched her head for the showers. She let her hair down, allowing it to fall to her shoulders. He then turned his gaze back to Dirk, who by now had walked up to him.

"You're a lucky man," Dirk said as he faced Aidan.

"How so?" he asked, spearing him with a glare, still slightly irritated.

"Hey, don't look at me like that," Dirk replied. "I'm not interested in her, and besides, my wife would kill me."

The irritation left Aidan as quickly as it came. "You mean Sakura?"

"Who else?" Dirk replied. "You two have something, and don't you ever let it go."

Aidan was left with those words as Dirk walked past him and out of the gym.

Age: 19

Strapped into his restraining harness, Aidan could feel the vibrations of the dropship's engine as it propelled him and several other soldiers into the city of Augusta. He had on his combat gear, which consisted of urban camouflage fatigues, flak vest, armored boots, combat harness, and his helmet, which had a protective mask that had short-range comm gear, and protected him against chemical weapons. His weapons consisted of his SA23 Automatic Rifle, his combat knife, a couple of hand grenades as well as extra ammo.

Recently, the city had been occupied by the E.D.A., and they were using it as a base of operations to strike at the S.D.F. units nearest to it. The Seventy-First was called in to remove the presence of E.D.A. forces from the city. If they could not drive them from the city, they were to render the city unusable to them, but only as a last resort.

"Nervous?" Dirk asked him.

"No," he partially lied. He actually did feel a little nervous, as this was his first time in actual combat.

Suddenly, the dropship started to shudder slightly. The sounds of explosions could be heard even through the reinforced armor and interior of the ship. The explosions seemed to get closer with passing second. Then, the ship rocked violently and fire erupted from the pilots' compartment. It took Aidan a few seconds to realize what had just happened.

"Shit! They just got the pilot!" his sergeant yelled over the explosion. "Everyone, brace yourselves! We're going down!"

The whole world seemed to fall, and to Aidan it felt like his stomach had been turned inside out and thrown into a washing machine. His knuckles were white as he gripped the metal restraints that held him in place. Over his head as the dropship began its plummet. Then, as quickly as it came, it went, immediately followed by the hammering force of several tons of metal slamming into the ground at high speeds.

------------

"Hey! Mercer!" someone yelled, but to Aidan, the words seemed to jumble together in his half-unconscious, dazed state. Then, when the person repeated it, the words came in a little more clearly.

He opened his eyes, and it took him a moment to focus to the dark interior of the dropship, which for some reason, was backlit with an orange glow. It took him a second to realize that it was fire, another strong smell seemed to get through the burnt, acrid scent of heated metal. It had a coppery scent to it. He finally realized it was the smell of blood, and that snapped him awake. He glanced down and saw that it was pooled at his feet.

"Good, you're not dead," the person said, and Aidan looked up to see it was Steiner.

Aidan let out a short laugh in spite of how he felt. "How long was I out?" he said, biting back an aching pain that seemed to wrack his body. It seems he would be feeling that for a while, after the rough handling the crash gave him.

"About five minutes," Steiner replied as he helped Aidan out of the harness. "Can you move?"

"Yeah, but I'm sore just about everywhere," Aidan said as he attempted to get to his feet. He nearly slipped in the blood at his feet, but caught himself. "Where's Dirk?"

"He's already outside the ship, and that's where we need to be," Steiner replied.

Aidan grabbed his rifle, which miraculously hadn't moved very far from him, and followed Steiner out of the wrecked ship.

------------

Aidan ducked reflexively as another laser bolt cored into the wall he was using for cover. All day long, the Federation forces were being harassed by sniper fire. The unit he was part of was sent to hunt down and neutralize the sniper. So far, this had been an aggravating search for the sniper. He would fire from one room of a large building, then move to another room after every shot, making it difficult to pinpoint where he exactly was. The ruins they had to navigate through added to the problem.

"Black Five, can you locate his firing position?" he heard his Sergeant ask through the receiver built into his helmet.

"No, sir," he replied into his mask's chin mike. "Every time I stick my head out, the bastard tries to blast it off. Lucky for me he's not a good a shot as he probably thinks he is."

"Well, see if you can locate him, and I'll call in fire support," his Sergeant replied.

"Copy that, Black Lead," he replied. What he was about to say next was interrupted by a short, gurgled scream, then a curse.

"Shit! He just got Daniels!" Black Six shouted over the line. Daniels was the medic of their team, and losing him was not good.

_Okay, where's that bastard hiding? There!_ Aidan saw a flicker of movement up on seventh floor of the building, third window. "Black Lead, I have located target. Location: building to my north, seventh floor, third window."

"Affirmative, I'm calling in fire support," his Sergeant said as he switched frequencies.

"They better hurry up, or I'm going to be next," he muttered, careful not let it be heard over the commline. Suddenly, there was another crack, and Aidan felt a searing pain hit him in the side. He fell to the ground, dropping his rifle in the process.

"Black Five is down!" he heard Dirk say over the line. "I'm going to pull him outta there."

"Black Three, cover Four as he retrieves Mercer," the Sergeant said over the commline. "Where's my damn support!"

Not long after, he heard the sound of heavy machine gun fire as Steiner fired his support machine gun into the building, covering Dirk as he moved in. Dirk got to him in less than a minute.

"Yeah," he replied through clenched teeth. "I think he just grazed me."

Dirk helped lift Aidan to his feet, and Aidan put his arm around Dirk's shoulder to help him stay up. Just then, a loud, staccato roar sounded through the air as the target window was shattered by several heavy slugs. Glass and concrete rained down from the building a second later. Aidan looked back over to see a gray Striker, with it's rifle barrel still smoking. _'Bout damn time._

"This is Tigress, target has been neutralized," he heard a familiar voice report from the machine. _Sakura…_

------------

Letting a hiss of pain escape his lips as Sakura treated his wound, Aidan was grateful she knew something about first aid. After their medic had taken a shot through the throat, any serious wounds probably would've been fatal. As it stood, the laser had only grazed his right side, but still left a burn that hurt every time he moved. He didn't look forward to wearing his combat fatigues, which he knew would rub against his wound, making it even more uncomfortable.

Aidan's squad, along with Sakura, had taken shelter in a restaurant abandoned less than three weeks ago, the owner and employees leaving the city. He sat on a bench at the bar, watching Sakura as she finished applying the pressure bandage over his wound.

"There," she said as she finished. "Is that better?"

"A little, but you know how burns are," he replied with dry humor. "Thanks."

"Be careful," she said, changing to a serious tone.

"Don't worry, Sakura, I will," he replied.

"Feeling better?" Dirk asked as he walked up to them.

"Yeah, and you apparently have perfect timing," Aidan replied sarcastically.

"Did I interrupt something?" Dirk asked.

"No, not at all," Sakura answered as she closed the first-aid kit.

"Well, what do you want?" Aidan asked with an edge to his voice, for he wasn't in all that good of a mood after he got shot.

"Well, I thought you guys might be hungry, so I brought you something," Dirk said as he handed Sakura what appeared to be a can of food. He then tossed another can to Aidan, who caught it one handed.

"What is this?" he asked, looking at the can. "And where'd you get it?"

"We found it in the storage room of this place," Dirk replied. "And it's a hell of a lot better than what we usually get."

That last comment got a light laugh out of Sakura, and a grin out of Aidan. "Just about anything is better than military rations."

"Thanks," Sakura said to Dirk. "I need to go check up on my Striker."

"Before you go, there's something I'd like to show you," Dirk said as he took something out of the pocket of his field jacket.

"Here we go again," Aidan muttered under his breath. He knew what it was, for Dirk had shown countless times in the past two months. It was a picture of his wife and little girl, who had just turned three a month ago. He and Sakura had discussed the possibility of having a child, but had decided against it, at least for now. Because if that happened, Sakura would be discharged from the military. One day, she hoped to have a child, but she was content to wait. He wondered what it would be like to actually have a child…

------------

Ragged, with blood staining the front of his flak vest and dragging his rifle along the ground, Aidan stumbled into the checkpoint. The rest of his team awaited his and Dirk's return, for they had went scouting ahead of the main advance. Only he had come back…

Damon and Steiner came up to him as he leaned against a wall for support, then Steiner spoke. "Where's Dirk?"

"He's…" Aidan trailed off as he looked at Steiner, unable to finish, but both of them got the meaning.

"Well, what did you find out?" the sergeant asked as he walked up to the small group.

"A tank… overran our position, Dirk pushed me out of the way," Aidan said, glancing back down.

"What about the tank?" the sergeant asked.

"It's… no longer a threat, sir," Aidan replied. He would never forget the grim-like face of the charred corpse that used to be his friend Dirk.

"It's okay, son," the sergeant said, laying a hand on his shoulder. "He was a good man."

------------

The Striker's right knee suddenly exploded outward, sending parts of it's actuator flying in multiple directions. As a result, the mecha leaned, then collapsed to it's right, partly crushing it's arm in the process. The weapon in it's hand was likewise damaged, rendering it unusable. The machine rolled over onto it's back with a crash, sending dust and dirt flying.

Aidan watched as the machine hit the ground, and he rushed to help it's pilot. He heard shouts over the comm unit in his helmet, including an order to hold position, directed at him. _Damn the order! I'm going to help her._ A few seconds later, he noticed a pair of soldiers scrambling onto the downed Striker, intent on getting to the pilot.

"No way in hell…" he muttered as raised his rifle and took aim at the closest one to the cockpit. He squeezed the trigger, sending a burst of fire tracking from the armor of the Striker up to the man's leg. Two 7.65mm bullets hit the enemy soldier's leg, causing him to fall. His scream of pain was ended when he fell from the machine and onto his head, which broke his neck.

The other soldier paused only for second, then continued his climbed up the machine. Aidan fired again, but the man managed to make it over the side. _Damn!_ He ran up to the Striker, slung his rifle, and started to climb up onto it as well. He ignored the pain that went through as he touched a piece of hot metal. He continued his climb until he got onto the top of it, and noticed the soldier shouting for the pilot to open the hatch.

The soldier noticed him, and turned to fire his laser rifle. Having no time to use his rifle, which was still slung over his shoulder, he drew his knife instead. He charged the man, who was just about to fire. Aidan knocked the rifle away, causing the shot to melt into the cockpit hatch. The blast left a scorch mark on the armor, nowhere near powerful enough to penetrate. The man tried to use his rifle again, but with Aidan tackling him, it fell from his hands, clattering off the Striker and onto the concrete below. After a brief but violent struggle, Aidan, managed to dispatch the man, then pushed the corpse off the machine.

Wiping the blood off his knife on his fatigues, he sheathed it, and dropped onto the hatch. He shouted to Sakura, telling her it was him, and then telling her to open the hatch. After a few seconds, the hatch started to open, and he moved out of the way. After it opened, he saw Sakura, minus her helmet, clutching the sub-machine gun that was stored in the under the control seat.

"You alright?" he called to her as held his hand out to her.

"I'm fine," she replied as she took his hand, and pulled her out of the cockpit. "Though my machine is wrecked."

"Looks like you'll be a foot-slogger for a while," he replied jokingly, then quickly getting serious. "Let's go."

------------

Aidan leaned up against the wall to the left of the door, weapon at the ready, and Damon to the right. They were assigned to clear this building of any potential threats. They were currently on the third floor, and this was the last room on it. Aidan heard noises coming from this room, and he was certain Damon did too. With one quick, powerful kick, Aidan forced the door open and almost off it's hinges as it swung open. Swiftly, he and Damon entered the room, ready to gun down any opposition. What he saw in there surprised him, as well as Damon, his partner in this little operation.

In the far corner of the room, a small group of children sat, huddled together, away from the soldiers. Sensing that the children were of no immediate threat, Aidan lowered his weapon, followed a few seconds later by Damon lowering his. What surprised him was the fact that there still were civilians in the city. Aidan raised his right hand to his helmet and activated his comm mic.

"This is Black Five," he said into it.

"This is Black Lead. Go," he heard the sergeant say.

"Sir, we have a situation here," Aidan reported. "There is a group of children in one of the rooms we searched."

"Children?" the sergeant replied through the somewhat static-filled commline.

"Yes, sir, they appear to be orphans," he said into the receiver.

"Say again?" the reply came back through.

He repeated it a second time, and then glanced over at the children. His team's communications gear normally wasn't this static-laden. He had a gut feeling that something was wrong.

"The rest… team… will be there… minute, hold… position…" the reply came back, partially distorted.

"What did he say?" Damon asked as soon as Aidan finished up.

"From what I can tell, he told to us to hold position until the rest of the team arrived here," Aidan replied, glancing back at him. "What's bugging me is that my comm system seems to be jammed."

"Maybe yours is just acting up," Damon said. "I'll check mine."

His gut feeling became more evident when Damon told him that static was all he was getting as well. While they waiting for their team, Aidan took a better look at the children. From his count, there were about seven of them, and not one looked a day older than ten. They all appeared scared, and not one of them spoke, probably afraid of angering the soldiers in front of them. He was slightly surprised, because what reason had they to fear him? What surprised him more was the fact they looked dirty and also like they hadn't eaten in a week or two. Why weren't they evacuated when rest of the civilians left the city?

His train of thought was interrupted when the rest of the team arrived and entered the room, including ad hoc member Sakura. After her Striker's destruction, she had basically been added to the team, as there were no replacements in the current area. Upon seeing his commander, Aidan walked over to him.

"What are we going to do about them, sir?" Aidan asked, gesturing to the children.

"Well, probably the best thing to do would be to take them back to MASH unit set up three kilometers from here," he replied, looking at the children.

"Oh, and another things buggin' me, sir," Aidan said after a moment's silence. "Does your comm gear sound like it's jammed?"

"Now that you mention it, it appears to have been filled with more static than usual," the sergeant replied. "Are you saying that we possibly being jammed?"

"It's possible sir, but I'm not sure," Aidan replied, shrugging slightly.

"Well, you, Hunter, and Nakayama help get the children down to the first floor, and I'll call a transport," the sergeant ordered. "Myself and the rest of the team will continue to check the structure for hostiles."

"Yessir," Aidan replied, then turned back and walked over and gave Damon and Sakura the information.

"So, we're left babysitting," Damon replied, for he was not all that thrilled at the prospect.

"It won't be that bad," Sakura countered. "We got the easy job."

"But how do we get the kids to come with us?" Aidan asked. "They don't seem all that thrilled by our presence, either."

"I've got an idea," Sakura said. "Aidan, give me your chocolate bar."

"Alright," he said, catching on quickly to her line of thinking. He pulled it out of a pocket and handed it to her.

"Great, now we're gonna bribe them," Damon commented offhandedly.

"What are you complaining about? We have our orders," Aidan replied to his comment.

As Aidan turned back, he saw that Sakura's attempts to help the children were failing. He did not know why they apparently hated him and anybody who was a soldier. _Might have something to do with the fact that this was an E.D.A. controlled city. What was that!_ As soon as he saw it out of the corner of his eye, he knew what it was. The flash from a rocket launching. There was only a few seconds to act.

"Everyone, get down!" he yelled, as pulled Sakura to the ground, and then covered her, shielding her from the incoming explosion. Damon was on the floor a second later.

The explosion shattered the outer wall of the room, sending concrete, metal, and glass flying like shrapnel throughout the room. Aidan felt a sharp sting across the right side of his cheek, and the force of concrete pieces as they rained down from the ruined wall. The explosion quickly died, leaving in it's place debris, smoke, and a few small fires. Coughing, he got up and tried to identify the attacker, but was unable to do so, due to the smoke.

Muttering a curse, he turned to see Sakura starting to get to her feet. Immediately she froze with a horrified look on her face, and he saw why. Over where the children were, was now a bloody mess of bodies. Sakura immediately started to gag from the horrible sight. Resisting the urge to do the same, Aidan averted his eyes.

"You going to be alright?" he asked Sakura as he laid a hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah," she managed to reply after a long moment of silence. "Wait here a moment, I need to see if Damon's still alive."

"How nice of you to care," Damon replied sarcastically as he tried to get to his feet. Unsuccessful, he fell face first back onto the floor. From what Aidan could tell, he had taken some shrapnel in his right leg and side. He walked over and helped Damon to his feet, using himself to support his friend.

"Come on, Sakura, we need to get down to the transport," he said as he adjusted his wait so he could support Damon better.

It took them a few minutes, but they got to the transport, Damon was loaded onto it and sent to the MASH unit. Sakura went with him, while Aidan stayed with the rest of his unit.

------------

Finally, after about a month of hard fighting, the battered forces of the Seventy-First were withdrawn from the city. Aidan leaned against the side of an armored personnel carrier, looking into the war-torn city that was now the grave of one of his best friends. Several others he knew had died there as well, and he was glad to be out of that hellhole. At least he, Sakura and Damon survived, along with Steiner and about half his unit. His vision went from the ravaged city over to Sakura, who was sitting on top of the carrier.

"Those children…" she spoke out of the blue, trailing off at the end.

"There was nothing you could have done," he replied before he could think better of it. Those words tore at him, reminding him of the death of his parents, so long ago.

"I know but-"

The rest of Sakura's reply was cut off as the sky appeared to turn crimson red. The ominous glow emanated over the city, in which several spears of red light struck down into the city. It looked as though some god was angry at the city, and he had unleashed his wrath. What a ridiculous thought, for he knew it was the S.D.S Vindicator, an Intrepid Class destroyer that had just laid waste to two-thirds of the city in less than five seconds.

------------

_Now, I cannot stop this_

_Pure emotion_

_Falling from my eyes_

_You are vindicating_

_Liberating_

_Saviors of my soul_

_(Rise- Disturbed)_

After drying his face and hair, Aidan heard a rap at the door to his quarters. Hooking the towel around his neck, he walked over to the door, his footfalls barely making a sound on the carpet. He was clad pretty much in just a pair of trousers, for he wasn't really expecting company. Once he got to the door, he pressed the stud on the wall, and the door opened with a hiss. He saw Sakura standing outside, still in her uniform.

"May I come in?" she asked.

"Of course," he replied as stepped back, allowing her to enter. "What's up?"

"There's something I need to talk to you about," she said after a second, glancing down, then back up.

"Well, what is it that you'd like to talk about?" he asked, sitting down on the edge of his bed. She sat down beside him, glancing down at her hands.

"I wanted to talk about… us," Sakura said, looking up at him.

"I'm listening," Aidan said softly, meeting her gaze.

"After Augusta, I started to think that maybe, we should leave the military, and live the rest of our lives in peace," she said.

He thought on those words for a moment, realizing that she would never consider something like this lightly. He wouldn't mind actually living out the rest of his life with her, but he was not so sure of it all, so quickly.

"Because…" she trailed, tears starting to well up in her eyes, then start running down her cheeks. "Because, if I ever lost you, I don't know… I don't know what I'd do…"

"Sakura…" he said softly, brushing away her tears with his the tip of his finger. "You know that I'll never leave you."

"Aidan…" she said, embracing him tightly.

"Sakura…" he said softly, running a hand through her raven black hair. He cupped her chin in his hand, and lifted her head until her gaze met his. She stared back into his eyes for a long moment, then leaned towards him, and into a deep, passionate kiss.

Gently, he pushed her down onto the bed, and she caressed the side of his face. They continued their passionate embrace for a few more moments, before Sakura spoke up.

"Aidan… let's just forget about everything…" she said, unbuttoning her uniform. "Except each other…"

------------

The next day, Sakura had gone with Aidan on his way back to the military base. Aidan drove the jeep up to the security gate and handed the guard his ID. After checking it, the guard motioned to his companion in the guard shack to lift the barrier. As soon as it was up, Aidan drove through the gate and up to the vehicle hangar. After setting it in park, he got out of the vehicle, followed a second later by Sakura.

As they walked towards the hangar, Aidan noticed someone walk by him. It was a young, dark haired woman wearing the field cap and jumpsuit of a technician. He nodded to her as she passed, noticing a lock of her was red, but gave it no more thought as he walked with Sakura to the hangar, where her new Striker was supposed to be. She would never get to see it, as and incredible wall of force hit both of them, knocking both of them to the ground.

A fiery, searing pain gripped Aidan as his left arm was ripped open by a piece of white-hot metal. He screamed in pain, but it was drowned out by the tremendous roar that filled the air with its sound. Biting back extreme pain, he forced himself to his knees, gripping his arm, trying in vain to stop the bleeding. He recoiled from the pain as he touched his own wound, but held onto it nonetheless. He wasn't concerned for his own safety, but another. _Sakura!_

He looked around, fighting back nausea and the blackness that threatened to envelop him. He noticed her lying face down on the ground all but three meters from him. Damning the pain, he forced himself to his feet, and stumbled over to the prone Sakura. Once there, he dropped to his knees. Turning her over, holding her in his arms, he looked to see her face covered with dirt, and blood running from the corner of her mouth. He glanced down and saw that she also had a wound on her abdomen, and it was bleeding profusely.

"Sakura…" he said, fighting his own pain. "We need to get you to a medic."

"There's… no need," she said softly, then coughing up blood. "I won't make it…"

"Don't say that," he said, desperation in his voice.

She reached up with her right hand, and stroked his cheek, smearing it with her blood. "Aidan… I…" the rest of what she wanted to say was muted by another explosion, and he watched in horror as the life faded from her once vibrant, green eyes, and her hand fell to the ground. He looked down at his hands, her blood had mixed with his, disbelief in his eyes.

"Sakura… stay with me…" he said urgently, but no reply came from her now lifeless body. He felt tears burn their way down his face smearing the blood, _her blood_. He looked up into the overcast sky,

"SAKURA!" he screamed, his voice hoarse. He then screamed once again, this time, it was filled with both rage and sorrow. He started to get lightheaded, and the blackness finally overwhelmed him…

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Whew, this one took a while. I hope you like it. Feedback is always appreciated.


	15. Chapter Fourteen: Memories, Part Two

Disclaimer: I do not own Vandread, nor do I own any song lyrics used. They are all copyrighted to their respective owners.

Author's Note: I plan on this being a rather dark chapter, as there will be a torture scene, as well as intense violence and a disturbing scene.

**Vandread: The Unknown Soldier (Revised)**

**Chapter Fourteen: Memories, Part Two**

_Location: Infirmary, Nirvana_

His breathing started to become heavy, and the pain started to become more evident on his face. It wasn't really the physical pain that was causing him so much torment, but severe emotional trauma that tore at him. For once again, he had to relive the pain of losing someone that was close to him, someone who was far more than a friend…

_Sakura…_

Age: 19

As his vision slowly re-emerged from the darkness, Aidan was greeted by the harsh glare of the fluorescent lights. He squinted his eyes against bright lighting, and then slowly opened them as he adjusted to it. He tried to get a bearing on his location, and then noticed that he was lying in a bed, most likely in the infirmary. He forced himself into a sitting position, and he noticed that his left arm was in a sling, and a lingering pain reverberated throughout his left arm. From what he noticed, his left arm and chest had been bandaged.

In one quick, violent moment, it all came back to him. The explosion, the burning pain, Sakura's blood on his hands, her _death_. He brought his good hand up to his face, as varying emotions tore at him. Sakura… dead? He just didn't want to believe it, but this agonizing memory proved it.

"Oh, so you're finally awake," Damon said from the doorway. "How are you feeling?"

"Never mind me, what about Sakura?" Aidan asked in a vain hope that she might still be alive.

Damon's silence, as well as his looking down and away, gave him the answer he didn't want to know. After a long minute of silence, he finally spoke up. "She… was hit with shrapnel in the stomach, she bled to death."

"It's not… true, " he murmured, still struck with disbelief.

"I came here to give you this," he said as he walked over to Aidan. He handed Aidan what appeared to be a necklace, but it was actually her ID tags. As soon as he handed him the tags, Damon walked out of the room, leaving Aidan to himself. After looking at the tags for several long seconds, tears started to streak down his face.

"Sakura…" he murmured, clenching the tags tightly in his hand.

------------

_Carry me away_

_I need your strength_

_To get me through this_

_Dare to believe_

_For one last time_

_And then I'll let the_

_Darkness cover me_

_Deny everything_

_Slowly walk away_

_To breathe again_

_On my own_

_(Darkness- Disturbed)_

Standing at attention in full blue and black dress uniform, Aidan watched as they started to lower the caskets into the ground, his vision was blankly focused on one. Although it was the same as every other one being lowered into the ground. This would be the final resting place of his love, Sakura. It was all he could do just to keep a tight rein on his emotions.

This was a service for all who had died on that day, a week ago. The long silence was shattered with the crack of rifles firing in unison. The shots repeated several more times, and then stopped when the order was given. It felt as though a part of his soul had been ripped from him and cast into the abyss. He felt empty, for he really had nothing more to live for.

After the funeral, Aidan stood in front of her gravestone. He just stared at it blankly for a few moments, and he failed to notice somebody else's presence. When that somebody placed a hand on his right shoulder, he looked back and saw the muscular form of Steiner. He nodded, then turned back to look at the gravestone.

"Come on," Steiner said after a moment's silence. "We need to get back to the base."

"If you don't mind," Aidan replied, his voice subdued. "I'd like to be left alone with her for a while."

Steiner nodded, then left Aidan alone at the foot of Sakura's grave. Aidan stood there for a long moment, not saying anything. Sure that he was alone, he collapsed to his knees in front of her grave. He couldn't keep from crying, even though he knew it wasn't fitting a soldier like him.

"Sakura…" he said, clenching his fists. "Why… did you have to… arrrrghhhhh!"

He slammed his right fist into the dirt. "Why did you have to die?"

He got to his feet, and looked down at the name engraved on the stone. "Sakura, I promise you, I'll kill whoever was responsible for this, I will make them _pay_."

Age: 20

_Living just isn't hard enough_

_Burn me alive inside_

_Living my life's not hard enough_

_Take everything away_

_(Prayer- Disturbed)_

_Why can't I get over it? She's been gone for over six months now._ That thought was burned in his head the whole time he was in the shower. He didn't the heat from the water jets, so much as he felt the burn of his scar. The medics said it would have taken a long time for the scar to heal. He told them to leave it as is, because it was his punishment, his _price_, for failing Sakura. The scar ran from his left shoulder all the way down to just above the elbow.

He dried himself off, and started to put on his uniform. The Seventy-First had been put on reserve status, and Aidan didn't like it. He had also been promoted to sergeant, which he did not like either. Now he had additional duties to perform, ones he disliked. Of course, Sakura would have been happy about his promotion, and that brought the image of her face back into his mind.

"Dammit!" he cursed as he punched the locker. "Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! DAMMIT!"

He punched the locker repeatedly, then drew back and hit the locker with enough force to leave a fist-sized dent in it. "It's not fair! Why did you have to die? It's not fucking fair!"

He knew it was futile to think about her like that, but he still believed he should have died in her place. If not that, he should've died as well, because he didn't like living without her. Composing himself, he straightened up and headed for the locker room's exit.

------------

As the liquid burned its way down his throat, Aidan stared blankly at the photograph in his hand. Sitting alone in his darkened quarters, he had resorted to drinking as a way to numb the pain. It wasn't working. He then glanced over to where Sakura's personal effects were, lying in a box, next to him on his bed. She had only a few of them, including the pendant he'd given her for her nineteenth birthday. The picture in his hand was also something that belonged to her.

It was group picture, with him in the center, and with her off to his side, an arm around him. Damon, Steiner, and Dirk were also in the picture. He still remembered their last night together, even though it had been several months ago. He still remembered the scent of the perfume she'd been wearing. He could remember the softness of her caress, the warmth of her body. Then he was taken back to that last violent scene, in which her life just faded away as it were nothing. Her life was taken away, as if it had no meaning, no significance at all. The scene of her death would be engraved in his mind for the rest of his damn life.

"Why… did she have to die like that?" he asked himself. He looked down at the amber liquid in the glass. With a grimace, he threw the half-empty glass against the wall, where it shattered, splattering all over the wall. He then brought his hand up to his face. "Dammit… she had the rest of her life ahead of her, yet in a matter of seconds it was ripped away."

Just then, there was a rap at his door, and then someone spoke up. "It's me, Damon," the person said. "I'm coming in."

Aidan looked up as his friend entered his quarters. Damon stared at Aidan sternly, as he saw the bottle of liquor on the counter, as well as the shattered glass on the floor. With a few quick strides, he was standing in front of Aidan.

"Are you still sulking?" Damon said. "When are you going to get over the fact that she is gone?"

"Her death… was meaningless," Aidan said dejectedly.

"Get a hold of yourself, dammit!" Damon yelled, grabbing Aidan by the collar of his uniform and dragging him to his feet. "Don't you ever think that!"

Aidan refused to make eye contact, looking away from Damon. Damon drew back his fist and slammed it into Aidan's jaw. Aidan made no attempt to block the blow, and he barely felt the blood running from the corner of his mouth. "You weren't the only one who cared about her."

That last comment knocked Aidan out of his sullen mood. "What?"

"That's right," Damon replied. "I also cared about her, even though I knew you two were close…"

"I didn't know…" Aidan said, dumbfounded.

"In order to make sure her death wasn't worthless, you need to keep on living," Damon said, releasing his grip on Aidan's collar. "You need to keep on living, if for nothing else, her sake."

"Thanks," Aidan said as Damon turned to leave. As Damon reached the door, he turned and gave Aidan the ghost of a smile, then exited. That surprised Aidan, because he swore that Damon hadn't really smiled ever since he'd met him.

That left Aidan alone, standing in front of his bed. After a long moment, he finally came to a decision. "Okay, you win. Now I know what I have to do."

------------

"Sir, I'm here to request a transfer," Aidan said, at attention.

"At ease, Sergeant," Colonel Vandenburg replied. As soon as Aidan did as instructed, Vandenburg continued. "A transfer?"

"Yes, sir," Aidan replied. "I formally request to be transferred to special operations."

"Special operations, eh?" the Colonel replied. "And why is that?"

"I believe my training and skills would be better implemented in the special forces," Aidan replied.

"You're adamant about this, aren't you?" the Colonel asked.

"Yes, sir."

"Very well," the Colonel said after a moment's silence. "As it was the unit you were in that received the most casualties from the bombing, I formally accept your request for transfer."

"Thank you, sir," Aidan replied as he saluted his commander.

Age: 21

With renewed determination, Aidan passed all of the tests that were required to enter the Solaris Special Forces. Marksmanship, Close Combat, and Survival were just a few of them. Little did he know, Damon and Steiner both followed suite, completing their own spec ops training less than a month after Aidan completed his.

It wasn't long before Aidan had made it up to First Lieutenant, and he was granted command of his own combat team. He did not know that both Steiner and Damon were assigned to his team, and he would be meeting them today. He walked into the room to be greeted by none other than Steiner.

"Guten tag, Lieutenant," Steiner greeted him.

"Yeah, good day," Aidan replied, trying to hide the surprise on his face upon seeing Steiner, but failing miserably. Then he noticed Damon in the room as well. There was about three other men in the room.

Before he could ask about what they were doing here, a woman with short, flame red hair approached him. "So, is this him?" she asked the other woman present as she checked him out. "He looks a little young, but at least he's good-looking."

"Come on, Ria, is that anyway to treat your new commander?" the other woman said jokingly.

After viewing the small group of soldiers that he would command, he knew he was going to have some trouble on his hands. _This is going to be one hell of a day…_

------------

As Aidan waited for the rest of his team arrive in the briefing room, he glanced at his commanding officer. This was a man he'd come to dislike for the short time he'd been under the man's command. The man just had something about him, something Aidan did not find right. He looked and acted like an officer, but Aidan felt there was something he was hiding. He couldn't put his finger on it, but the man was suspicious, to Aidan at least.

Aidan was the first one there, due to the fact that he was the team leader. Damon and Steiner came in a few minutes later, followed by Julia Marks and Ria DeMarco, the female members of his team. Next in was the quiet Keiji Akida, his team's scout. The last two in were Nick Hawkins and Michael Deveroux, his team's explosives expert and comm specialist, respectively. As soon as Hawkins took his seat, their commander began the briefing.

"Okay, as of two days ago fifteen civilians were taken hostage aboard and civilian owned spacecraft," he started, bringing a picture of the craft on the video monitor. "They were taken hostage by a band of pirates labeling themselves' 'The Devil's Horde.'"

"Pirates?" Ria asked.

The commander nodded. "They are demanding a ransom of seventy-million credits for the safe return of the hostages, as well as several crates of weapons and ammunition. Yesterday, they landed on the uninhabited continent of Misery, presumably to take the hostages to their ground base."

"Your team's primary objective is the rescue of the hostages," the commander continued, now showing the pictures of the fifteen hostages. What surprised Aidan was that at least two of them were children. Briefly, he thought back to Augusta.

"You will be dropped five kilometers northwest of their base which is believed to be where the hostages are being held. Your discretionary objective is the destruction or disruption of the pirates' facilities and their personnel. If nothing else, the safe recovery of the hostages takes top priority. Mission preparation begins at twenty-two hundred hours tonight. That is all. Dismissed!"

------------

_What would think of me now, Sakura?_ That thought was in Aidan's mind the whole time he was preparing for the upcoming mission. He could never let her go completely, as he felt part of her still lived within him, within his memories. Chances are things would be very different if she were still alive. He would have never have joined special forces, and he may even have been out of the military, living a peaceful life with her.

Even though that was a nice thought, he knew it could never happen, due to the events of this messed up universe. He just finished strapping on his form-fitting flak vest and combat harness, and now started to lace up his boots. He briefly glanced over to where the rest of his team was prepping for the mission. His gaze rested on the lithe, attractive form of Ria Demarco, and he recalled how much her body shape was similar to Sakura's.

Apparently, Ria had an attraction towards him, although he had refused to return any of her advances. After Sakura's death, he wanted nothing to do with the aspect of affection for somebody else. Part of the reason is that he never wanted to go into a situation where'd he lose that person, and the other was that she would never be able to replace Sakura. Turning back to the task at hand, he finished strapping on his combat gear.

He walked over and took an SA23K Carbine off the weapon rack. It was similar to the SA23, but was lighter, had a shorter barrel, and had a folding stock. At the sacrifice of longer range and accuracy, it provided better firepower up-close. He took a fresh clip and slammed it home into the receiver, then pulled back the bolt to load the first round into the firing chamber. He then checked the laser sight underneath the barrel. Satisfied, he slung the carbine over his shoulder, and checked his handgun.

His handgun was of a different make and model from the standard Solaris Arms HG12 Automatic Pistol. His was a model specially made for covert operations, the Solaris Arms SP13 Special Operations Pistol. It was slightly larger than the standard HG12, as it was fitted with an internal silencer and integral laser sight. He checked the ten round clip, then pulled back the slide, loading the gun. He holstered it, then turned to face his team, who had just finished suiting up.

"Everyone ready?" he asked, his tone cold and formal. As soon as he got confirmation from each member of his team, he ordered them to begin to load onto the dropship.

------------

"Ten minutes to drop zone, Team Five, prepare for drop," the voice of the dropship's pilot echoed throughout the confines of the small craft. Aidan confirmed it, then turned back to his team.

"Alright, check your gear, we are dropping in less than ten minutes," he ordered. He then began checking his weapons and equipment, including his parachute pack and helmet. It was a somewhat sophisticated piece of equipment, as it had a heads up display, and a threat indicator that allowed warning time if hostile targets got in the way. Another added feature, purely for aesthetic reasons, was that the helmet's 'mask' vaguely resembled the face of a skull. He also had a small tactical computer strapped to his wrist. He checked the rest of his equipment, then had another of the team recheck it, while he did the same to their equipment. It was standard procedure, to make sure everything was working properly, and not one piece was overlooked, which could lead to a fatal accident if it malfunctioned.

He glanced down at his chronometer, oh twenty-three fifty-four. Right on time. The drop master then called out. "Alright! Team Five, line up!"

The soldiers of Team Five, also known as Death's Grenadiers, lined up in front of the aft bay door of the dropship. They would be jumping from this craft into the stormy skies over the continent Misery. The continent was aptly named, given the fact that the constant storms and inhospitable terrain allowed no one but most resilient people to live there. Due to that very reason, it made a perfect home for pirates and other scum, as well as possible locations for top secret military facilities, although the latter has never been confirmed.

Switching on his night vision, Aidan stepped up behind Damon and was the last to be jumping from the craft. It was then that the drop master slammed his fist on the stud that opened the aft bay door and yelled. "Go! Go! Go!"

As if on cue, Akida jumped out of the craft and into the dark, cloud-filled sky. DeMarco jumped out next, followed by Deveroux, Marks, Hawkins, and Steiner. Aidan stepped up to the edge just as Damon jumped out of the craft. Aidan steeled himself and leapt out into the darkness as well.

------------

Three hours later, the pirate base was at a lull. Hardly any activity was happening, at least outside or around the old, decaying buildings. There were at least three guards patrolling on the ground, and a couple on the roof of what appeared to be the main building. Without warning, one of the guards pitched over onto his face. Before the other guard could react effectively, an armor-piercing bullet tore through his skull, spattering blood out the side of his head and onto the flat surface of the roof. With cold precision, Julia Marks had just sniped two guards with the help of Keiji Akida, her spotter.

With stealth, six members of Team Five moved into the compound. Ria DeMarco proved how effective she could be when she dispatched two guards with a combat knife. The other one was gunned down before he could yell out to his comrades. With rapidity, the commandos moved into the complex. Inside, they split into two groups of three, and moved off into two different directions.

Aidan headed the group that consisted of himself, Hawkins, and Deveroux. They hid behind the corner of a wall. Peering over it, Aidan noticed two more guards patrolling the hallway. With a couple of quick hand signals, Hawkins tossed a flashbang grenade out into the hallway. The three of them leapt out from their cover and opened fire. The two guards dropped before they could raise their weapons. The small group of soldiers moved on, not even giving a second thought to the dead pirates.

Within a few minutes, they arrived at a huge, armored door. Seeing as how firearms would probably be of no use, Aidan motioned for Hawkins to place a breaching charge on the door. After setting it, they took cover behind the corner as the charge blasted the door off it's hinges. They charged into the smoke-filled room, using their helmet's enhanced vision to pick out kill the pirates through the thick smoke. Within a minute, the gunfire ceased, and smoke started to dissipate. Most of the pirates in the room were dead.

As soon as the smoke completely disappeared, Aidan removed his helmet and looked around. In the corner of the room, he noticed the hostages, but something was wrong. They were all in the shapeless forms that only the dead could seem to achieve, and there was a large amount of blood pooled underneath them as well. Fighting the urge to vomit, Aidan stepped over to them.

"My god…" Deveroux muttered as he noticed the horrible scene as well.

"Who in the hell did this?" Hawkins said upon seeing it as well, disgust clearly on his face. "Well, there goes the mission. Dammit!"

Aidan remained quiet, staring at the scene. From the looks of it, they had almost all been killed in different ways. Some appeared to have been shot, while others looked like they were stabbed to death. Others appeared to have been tortured before they were killed. The sight that sickened him the most was the bodies of the two children. Both the girl's and the boy's throats had been slit open. It was then he noticed movement, from one of hostages. It was a middle-aged woman that had several cuts over her body.

Acting on impulse, he rushed over there and knelt down next to her. He reached out and grabbed her bloodstained hand. "Don't try to move, we're going to get help." He said that even though, from the looks of her, she was not going to live even if she did get medical attention.

"Are my… children… all right…" she managed to whisper, coughing up blood. It was then that the life faded from her eyes and her arm fell limp.

This current caused Aidan to remember Sakura's death. He closed his eyes and bowed his head. He then heard a grunt, and looked up to see one of the pirates still alive, but badly wounded. He immediately found a vent for his pent up rage. He quickly got up, walked over to the pirate, picked him up by the collar of his shirt, and slammed him against the wall.

"Why? Why in the hell did you do this?" he asked, venom in his voice.

The pirate laughed defiantly, then smiled, showing yellow, blood covered teeth. "Why? Because I thought it would be fun. I especially enjoyed killing the women and children."

"You. Sick. BASTARD!" Aidan yelled in the man's face as he slammed him against the wall again, this time with more force. Taking one hand off the pirate, he reached behind his back and unsheathed his knife. "I'm going to do to you what you did to them."

"Go ahead," the pirate said. "I don't think you have the guts."

Damon, who had arrived unnoticed due to Aidan's preoccupation with the pirate, laid a hand on his shoulder. "He's not worth it. It won't bring them back."

With one anger filled thrust, Aidan stabbed the knife into wall only a couple of centimeters from the pirate's head. Aidan then pulled his knife out of the wall, turned his back to the pirate and started to walk away. The pirate laughed once again.

"HA! I knew you were gutless, you worthless soldier," the pirate spat triumphantly.

"What do you think you are laughing at, you son of a _bitch_," Aidan responded coldly while he pulled the slide back on his handgun. With that, he turned and aimed it at the pirate's head, the pirate looking up at the red dot on his head seconds before a ten millimeter bullet tore through his brain, splattering it all over the wall. Without another word, Aidan walked past the rest of his team, and out of the room as the corpse slumped to the floor.

------------

Aidan walked up to the door that lead to the office of his commanding officer. He had been summoned by his commander, but he did not know exactly what reason he was being called for. It had been less than a week after the failed rescue mission, and he did not think he was being called for another mission. He tapped the intercom stud.

"Lieutenant Aidan Mercer, reporting as ordered." he said into the intercom

"Enter," came the reply as the slid open, allowing him to enter.

Aidan saluted, and his commander replied with the same, albeit less formal. He stood at rigid attention until his commander said, 'at ease.'

"What did you want to see me about, sir?" he asked. "Is it about that mission?"

"Not exactly, although that was an unfortunate incident," his commander replied.

_Unfortunate doesn't even begin to describe it, _he thought bitterly.

"I called you here because there is another mission," the commander said, looking up from the data pad on his desk. "Although this mission is pretty much opposite of what the last one was."

"What are you implying, sir?" he asked.

"I was just getting to that," the commander replied, slightly irritated at Aidan's interruption. "What I'm about to tell you will not be spoken of outside this room. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, sir," he replied stoically. "Crystal."

"Good," the commander said, then continued. "What I have planned is a black operation, I'm sure you know what a black op is."

"Yes, sir," he replied. _More than likely I'm going to be doing something the government doesn't want to be connected to._

"I'm going to put it simply, this is an assassination mission," the commander said, handing him a data pad. "Your primary objective is the elimination of this man."

"What about the rest of my team?" he asked, looking up from the pad.

"You will be going solo for this op," his commander replied. "Oh, and I forgot to mention, you must eliminate anyone and everyone that may be with the target."

------------

Aidan was pissed, really pissed, and that was putting it lightly. Upon returning from the successful completion of his 'mission,' he stormed straight to the office of his commanding officer. They immediately started to argue over the 'no witnesses' part of the mission, especially where it concerned the target's wife and young daughter.

"They didn't have to die," Aidan said angrily. "They weren't even a threat!"

"Keep in mind, _Lieutenant,_" his commander replied coldly, stressing his inferior rank. "You are out of line."

"Like I give a damn!" he yelled. "Don't the lives of innocent civilians mean anything!"

"In this line of work, life is worthless, even that of women and children," the commander replied, his tone implying that he would not tolerate any more insubordination. "Besides, they weren't worth shit."

"You, goddamn bastard!" Aidan yelled in his face, then out of nowhere, Aidan slammed his fist into the man's face, decking him straight to the floor. Aidan was somewhat satisfied upon hearing the _crack_ of the man's nose breaking.

"I'll make you pay for that," his commander spat, struggling to his feet.

"Go ahead and try," Aidan replied coldly, stepping over him and walking out of the office, only to be met by a couple of armed guards. When he tried to shove past them, the guard on his left slammed the stock of his rifle into Aidan's abdomen, causing him to double over.

"Take him to the interrogation chamber," the commander ordered the two guards. They nodded and dragged Aidan away.

------------

_Wait another minute, can't you see_

_What this pain has fucking done to me_

_I'm alive and still kicking_

_What you see I can't see_

_And maybe you'll think before you speak_

_(Awake-Godsmack)_

Refusing to give in to the pain, Aidan stoically endured the pain his sadistic bastard of a commander was giving him. He would not give in to this poor excuse of a man, even if it meant he'd die. He'd rather die than bow down to this bastard. The only sounds he made were grunts of pain when the razor-lined lash connected with his body, drawing gashes and blood. He would not give that man the satisfaction of hearing him scream in pain.

"Do you give in?" the bastard said mockingly. "If you do, this will go easier, but not by much."

"Go to hell, _bastard_," Aidan spat.

"Why you little…" his commander said as he struck him across the face with the handle of the whip. Aidan responded by spitting blood in the man's face.

"Well then, I see I'm going to have to try something else," his commander said, drawing a knife.

Then the man drew the blade across the left side of Aidan's face, drawing blood. He then made another diagonal cut intersecting the other one, leaving a crude X-shape on his left cheek.

"Let this be the mark that will be a constant reminder of your inferiority to me," the bastard said triumphantly. "This will also remind you that you are damned, that there is no hope for you, in this life or the next."

"That maybe so," Aidan replied grimly, as the blood from his face dripped to the floor. "But you're going to hell first, I promise you."

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It had been three days since his 'disciplinary punishment,' and he sat on the small bunk in the holding cell that he'd been locked in. He leaned against the wall, and lifted his head so he could look up at the ceiling. The images of death kept haunting him. His parents, Dirk, the children in Augusta, Sakura, the hostages, and finally the woman and her child. Most recently, he had been haunted by the frightened image of the young girl right before he pulled the trigger. She had been crying, he she stared up at him, as if in some silent plea that he wouldn't do it. The difference was that he was directly responsible for the death of them, unlike all the others.

Unfortunately, her blood, as well as her mother's, was on his hands. He buried his head in his hands, for there was almost no way for him to wash away that particular sin. The only thing he could do was vow that he would never again kill anyone who was innocent, even if it meant directly disobeying an order. He wouldn't mind if he just died here and now, but something was keeping him from doing that. And that was a hunger for revenge, against the person or persons' responsible for Sakura's death, and his commanding officer.

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"Aidan…" a familiar voice said softly. "Wake up."

"Sakura…" Aidan whispered upon hearing the voice, believing himself in a dream. He opened his eyes to look up into a clear blue sky. Then the face of someone that he'd believed died showed up in his vision.

There, with his head in her lap, looking up into her lovely face, was none other than Sakura. But she had long hair, like when he first met her. She also wore a long, white gown. He got up into a sitting position, then turned to face her. "This can't be…., you're-"

She had placed a finger on his lips, forestalling any more comments from him, then began to stroke his cheek. "You, of all people, should know who I am, love."

Upon hearing those words from her, Aidan felt a flood of emotions. Is this real? Where am I? Is this really her? A few of those questions were answered when Sakura leaned in and kissed him. He returned the kiss for several long seconds, then embraced her and held her close, not wanting to let her go. Tears started to well up in his eyes.

"Sakura…"

"Aidan, there's no need for that," she said, gesturing to his tears.

"But, I've missed you. It's been a long time," Aidan said in reply.

"I know, but it's time you went back to your reality," she said.

"There's nothing there for me anymore," he said, looking up into the sky, then back at her. "I want to stay here, with you."

"There's nothing I'd like more than that, but-" Sakura said, then looked down. "But I'm afraid that isn't possible."

"Why not?" he asked.

"It's because you still have your life to live, and," Sakura replied.

"And what?" he asked, curious about her reply.

"There is someone else," she finally replied. "Although she doesn't completely know it yet."

"Someone else? I don't understand," Aidan said, slightly confused.

"You will," Sakura said. "The thing is, she cares about you, but she will never admit it to anybody, including herself. That is why you must go back."

"But, I don't want to-" the rest of his reply was cut off by Sakura leaning in and giving him a kiss.

"Goodbye, Aidan," she said, then said these simple, but strong words. "I love you…"

Just as he realized those were the words she'd spoken seconds before she died, Aidan was forced back into reality.

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Darkness gave way to light as Aidan regained consciousness, only to close his eyes against the overhead lights of the infirmary. Was that all just a dream? Or was it real? Those questions remained in his head for a few seconds, until he opened his eyes and looked over, with some difficulty, to see Meia, of all people, sitting in one of the chairs, apparently asleep.

_Wait a minute… did she mean…?_

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Crap, this one took longer than I thought it would. I'll have the next one up quicker, you can count on that.


	16. Chapter Fifteen: Before the Storm

Disclaimer: I do not own Vandread or anything related to it. But all of the stuff created for this fic is my intellectual property.

**Vandread: The Unknown Soldier (Revised)**

**Chapter Fifteen: Before the Storm**

_Location: Infirmary, Nirvana_

With a start, Meia woke from where she was sitting. She was exhausted from the battle, and she had apparently dozed off. She wondered, for a brief second, where she was, but quickly remembered. Then her attention quickly shifted to that of the person who was lying on one of the beds. Noticing that he was awake, and looking in her direction, embarrassed her slightly. _How long was he looking at me?_

"Oh, so you're awake," she said abruptly to cover her embarrassment.

"Yeah," Aidan replied, levering himself, with some difficulty, into a sitting position. "Are you alright?"

This question caught her slightly off-guard. "Am I? You're one to talk."

"Hmmhmmhmm- ugh!" Aidan laughed lightly, then grunted in pain as his injuries protested against the rapid exertion of breath. "I guess you're right."

"Why… did you do it?" she asked.

"Huh?" he replied, not getting her meaning.

"Why did you… why did you intercept that fighter that was bearing down on me?" she asked once again. "You put yourself in a lot of danger by doing that."

"I'm not really sure why," he replied. "I just did it on impulse, I guess."

"On impulse?" she asked, then sighed. "You're a reckless idiot, you know that?"

"I guess I am," he replied to her comment with a grin on his face.

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"Damages were quite extensive," BC said, reading the damage report. "Especially to the starboard arm of the ship. That last missile hit tore a gaping hole in the hull. I have Parfet currently overseeing the repairs."

"What about casualties?" Magno Vivan asked, concerned for her crew.

"Twenty-three dead, about half of those Dread pilots," BC replied. "Thirty-five wounded, including Aidan Mercer."

"I'd say we got off lightly, this time," Gascogne commented. "If they attack us again, we could be in for a lot worse than what we got."

"What I want to know is, what in the world was that ball of electricity?" Magno said.

"Perhaps Aidan might know," BC suggested. "We could ask him."

"Speaking of him," Magno said. "What's his current condition?"

"Duero reports that he is in stable condition, and has just recently regained consciousness." BC replied.

"I think I'll have to pay him a little visit," Magno said. "So we can hopefully figure out what that weird weapon was, and possibly a way to counteract it"

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_The loud crack of gunfire sounded in the confines of the room. Her fear suddenly escalated, why would there be gunshots? She found out the horrible reason why in just a few seconds. She hurried to where her father last was, and saw him lying facedown on the floor, with a dark red liquid pooling underneath him. Blood…_

_She screamed out to her father, but he was obviously dead. She looked up with horrified eyes to see the two soldiers that were supposed to be his guard, standing over her and her father's still corpse. One of them with a rifle in his hands, and pointed it at her head._

"_Don't worry," the soldier with the rifle said with an evil grin. "You'll be joining the bastard in a few seconds."_

_She closed her eyes, screamed, and waited for him to fire. There was the sound of a gunshot, but she didn't feel anything. She opened her eyes to see the other soldier pitch forward onto his face. A ghost-like figure stood behind him. The other soldier made the mistake of turning to meet this threat, and was shot just as he pulled the trigger. _

_The result was the now dying soldier convulsively clutched the trigger, emptying the magazine into the wall and up to the ceiling as he fell. A few of the bullets shattered the overhead light panels, dimming the room and sending sparks shooting everywhere. The lights now flickered, and she looked up to see a ghostly image appearing to solidify right in front of her eyes. The black figure was clutching a pistol in it's hand. Frantically, she picked up a pistol that was lying on the floor next to her. She raised it and pointed at the approaching black figure._

"_Get away from me!" she screamed as she closed her eyes and pulled the trigger. The sound of the shot was deafening at this distance. Then, when she opened her eyes, the figure was holding her arm up, and it had sent the shot she fired into the ceiling._

"_Dammit! Get a hold of yourself! I'm on your side!" the figure said. He reached up and tapped a stud on his helmet, retracting the visor up into the helmet. She looked to see a pair of gray eyes staring back at her._

"_Who… who are you?" she asked, shaking from the rush of adrenaline._

"_Captain Aidan Mercer, Solaris Special Forces," the soldier responded as he took the gun from her shaking hand. "I was supposed to escort both you and your father to the Artemis, but it looks as though they beat me to him. Luckily you're still alive."_

"_The Artemis?" she asked, still in a state of shock due her close brush with death._

"_A warship," he replied. "We need to get there before this whole place is overrun."_

_She looked back over to her father, and tears started to streak down her face. She couldn't help but cry upon seeing the horrible truth in front of her. Aidan came over to her and pulled her to her feet._

"_There was nothing you could have done," he said as the visor lowered back into place on his helmet. "You need to be strong, if nothing else, for the memory of your father. I was in a similar situation once."_

"_You were?" she asked, starting to regain control over her emotions._

"_Yes, he replied as he glanced down at the wrist computer built into his armored suit. "Crap. We need to get going, now."_

Forced out of her painful memories by a rap at her door, Maria turned her attention away from her thoughts. "Who is it?" she asked meekly, her knees drawn up to her chest.

"It's me, Ezra," came the reply. "You must be hungry, so I brought you something to eat. May I come in?"

She was about to respond negatively, but a slight growl in her stomach made her change her mind. _I guess I need to eat sooner or later._ "Okay," she replied weakly.

She heard the door slide open, and Ezra walked in with a tray of food in her hands. Noticeably absent was her daughter, Kahlua. Ezra walked over to where she sat on the bed, and sat down beside her. She then went back to a normal sitting position and accepted the tray from Ezra.

"Where's Kahlua?" she asked, trying to start a conversation.

"She's with Dita right now," Ezra replied.

"Oh," she said, glancing down at her food.

"You know, Dita was just trying to help you," Ezra said after a moment's silence.

"I know, I was just… I was just in a bad mood," she replied. "After all that happened. I'm sorry."

"Dita's the one you should be apologizing to, not me," Ezra said in her usual, kind-hearted voice.

"I'm such a coward," she stammered, putting the tray on the bed.

"Don't say such things," Ezra responded, putting a hand on her arm, trying to comfort her.

"But it's true," she said, trying to hold back tears. "I was the same way when Aidan rescued me from the soldiers on the space station, and later, from the assassin."

"But you are not a coward, you are strong," Ezra said. "Otherwise, you wouldn't be here today."

"I just don't know anymore," she replied, no longer able to hold back her tears.

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As he reviewed the footage again, Aidan did not like what he was seeing. At the doctor's order, he still had to stay in the infirmary, due to his injuries. Personally, Aidan knew he could still move around, even with these injuries, but, the doctor's was adamant about it. The small computer in his lap showed the last few minutes of the battle, from the perspective of the Nirvana. It showed the expanding of some weird, electrical field that knocked out the various special weapons these pirates had, granted to them by the Paksis Pragma. He suspected, them confirmed it in his mind, that he knew what had caused this.

"Do you have any idea as to what that is?" Magno asked.

"I have an idea," he replied. "I think it's called the P.N. Device."

"P.N. Device?" BC asked. "Care to explain what that is?"

He hesitated at first, as he knew that was a secret weapon, before he came to the realization that the E.D.A. had the only effective prototype, and they were the enemy. He then took a breath, and then started to explain what he knew about it.

"Paksis Nullification Device," he said. "It was a weapon developed from captured Harvester data, meant for use against the Paksis Pragma, which is used by the Earth forces. As you also have the Paksis, it has been used against you."

"So, a weapon developed to fight against Earth, which was captured and now used against us. Wonderful," Magno said after listening to Aidan's short explanation. "Do you know anything else about it?"

"Unfortunately, I do not," he replied. "As it was a top secret weapon for use against warships, and I'm just a ground-pounder, I don't know any more specifics."

"Now, the only question that remains is why they have not capitalized upon this advantage, and attempt to destroy us," Meia, who had been quiet until now, said.

"If you ask my opinion," he said, referring to Meia's comment. "I believe the commander in charge of that task force is overly prideful and arrogant. He probably believes, that since he has beaten you once, he can easily beat you again, so has determined that you are of no threat to him. Again, this is just my opinion."

"Alright," Magno replied., and then turned to walk out, followed by BC.

"And, Captain?" he said before she could exit.

"Yes?" she replied as she turned her head to look at him.

"I apologize for the comments I made earlier," he said, referring to the argument after the whole assassin debacle.

"You don't need to apologize," Magno replied, a smile creasing her lips. "We were all a little edgy then, and I understand that you have had terrible sacrifices in your lifetime. We've all lost our share of friends and loved ones."

She then turned and walked out of the room.

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_Still, it doesn't make sense. If I were them I would've pressed my advantage and finished them off._

That thought was plaguing Meia for the last few days, for she didn't know why they didn't even bother to send any scouts, let alone an attack force against them while they were performing repairs. _I guess we should be grateful that they aren't bothering to attack._

There was really only one thing she could do, and that was find out where they were and why they weren't attacking. Even if what Aidan had said was true, that still left that fleet as a large threat to the safety of everyone on the Nirvana. She got out of bed and changed into her Dread flight suit. She was going to go scout for herself, so at least she could get a few of these questions answered.

As soon as she was dressed, she exited her room and made her way to the hangar where her Dread was kept. She climbed on one of the lifts and made her way up to the cockpit. She deftly made her way into the cockpit and ran through the startup sequence. Placing her hands on the controls, opened the hangar by remote and launched out into space.

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Even though his injuries still slightly bothered him, primarily his broken ribs, he was now healed enough that he could return to his quarters, if you could call them that. Aidan was lying on his bed, contemplating on what Sakura had said.

"_There is someone else, even though she doesn't completely know it yet."_

"Dammit," he muttered. "What did she mean? Did she mean Meia?"

Seeing as he couldn't sleep, and the fact that it was completely silent for once, as Bart, the ship's helmsman, wasn't snoring. He heard the sounds of footsteps in the corridor. Granted, they weren't very loud, but sounds carried at night, and he could easily hear these. He glanced at his chronometer.

"Now, who could that be this late at night?" he asked himself silently. _Only one way to find out._

Levering himself into a sitting position, he shifted and got off the bunk. He quickly put on his clothes and crept out into the corridor. He got out there just in time to see Meia, take a turn, moving out of his view. He silently followed her.

_Now, what is she doing at a time like this?_ That question was answered when he saw her enter the hangar and board her fighter. _What is she planning to do? Crap, she's going out to recon the area, probably to locate the E.D.A. fleet by herself. If they spot her, it'll be over before it even would begin._

Deciding to accompany her of his own free will, he bolted for the hangar where the Vanguards were kept. It was also where the Strikers were kept, due to there similar size and profile. He quickly climbed the gantry to the cockpit of the single remaining machine, as the other one was pretty much only useful as parts. He strapped himself in and started up the machine. On his way out, he grabbed a long-range rifle, and a combat shield, and then launched from the catapult.

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Nothing yet, but she was confident that she would find them before everyone else woke up. She wanted to be sure where their enemy was, so they could figure how and where to respond if they renewed combat. She checked her sensors one more time, and a noticeable blip appeared on it. It was a friendly, as denoted by it's green color. And the scanners confirmed it to be humanoid in shape.

_Is it the Vanguard?_ She brought up the view from a rear camera feed, and saw that it was blue and black, not the gold color of Hibiki's machine. She immediately figured out what it was and who was piloting it. _Aidan…_

She toggled on her communications system, and set it on the frequency that her squadron used. She knew Aidan had the same frequency set on his machine. "What are you doing out here?"

"I could ask you the same question," came the reply as Aidan's face appeared on the video monitor.

"You're still recovering from your injuries," she said. "Head back to the Nirvana."

"I'm sorry, but I can't comply with that command," Aidan replied.

"And why is that?" she asked.

"The answer is simple," Aidan replied with a grin on his face. "I couldn't just leave my commander all alone out here without backup."

"Alright," she replied, returning the smile. "I guess I lost that one."

And with that, she slowed her Dread slightly to allow the Striker to keep pace with her.

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I need to get this done, so I can start on the sequel. Thanks for the feedback, guys.


	17. Chapter Sixteen: Ambushed

Disclaimer: Come on, you guys already know what this is for.

**Vandread: The Unknown Soldier (Revised)**

**Chapter Sixteen: Ambushed**

_Location: Uncharted System, Approaching Planet._

This was getting frustrating, that was for sure. He checked his sensors for what appeared, to him, the fifteenth time in as many minutes, and still found nothing, other than that large blue-green planet off to his left. Briefly, he recalled how he'd seen pictures of Earth, back before the Earthers' stupidity contaminated it. In many ways, this planet was very similar, and he had no idea if anyone had settled on it.

"And to think, this is what Earth looked like before," he said absent-mindedly.

"Did you say something?" Meia asked, as he had forgotten that his comm system was still active.

"Nothing," he replied, glancing down at the monitor. "Just thinking out loud. Did you locate anything yet?"

"No, but it is possible that they are using the planet to hide their presence," Meia said.

"Possible," he replied, then noticed something briefly on his scanners. "I just got something! Wait, it disappeared."

"I saw it too," Meia replied. "It was there one second, then vanished."

"Something isn't right," he said. "We should return to the ship."

"Not yet," Meia replied. "I still think- Incoming!"

As Aidan saw the rapidly approaching beams of light, he knew all along that they were walking straight into a trap. They had been ambushed…

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"Captain! Both Meia's Dread and the remaining Striker are not onboard the ship. We can't find Meia or Aidan Mercer, either," Celtic Midori reported.

"This isn't good," Magno said to herself. This was slightly disturbing, to say the least. _The Dread Team Leader and the one who knows how to fight the E.D.A. are both missing. Chances are Meia went out to recon, as she had done that before. Aidan probably just tagged along. When they return, I'm going to have a talk with both of them._

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This wasn't good, that was for certain. Within moments of them nearing the planet, they had come under attack from a lone warship. First, they were fired upon by the capitol class weapons, the laser cannons intended for anti-ship combat. It was then that a squadron of fighters launched from that same ship, and were now engaging them. Meia tried to get a message out to the Nirvana, but so far, she was only getting static.

"Damn," she muttered. "They're jamming communications!"

"Yeah, I kinda noticed that," he replied as he took a shot at a passing fighter. Ejecting the magazine from his now empty rifle, he took another off the hip armor and slammed into place on the top of the weapon. "But short-range comms seem to be okay. What do you propose we do?"

"We need to get back to the Nir- Ahhhhh!" her reply ended in a yell of surprise as a ruby-colored beam hit the right-side of her Dread, melting, then almost completely vaporizing the entire right wing. Part of the cockpit seemed to explode, sending a shower of sparks all over. She gasped in pain as she felt something slash into her right arm. She fought to keep control of her Dread, but was failing due the loss of balance and the fact that she was being pulled in by the planet's gravity. It wasn't long before the heat overwhelmed her, and she slipped into unconsciousness.

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_I need to be strong, if I don't, more people that I care about will die._ That was the thought on Maria Shakov's mind as she stood in front of the bathroom mirror, in nothing but her undergarments. Her image stared back at her, her blue eyes fixed with determination. She also thought about what both Aidan and later, Ezra, had said to her.

"_You need to be strong, if nothing else, for the memory of your father."_

"_But you are not a coward, you are strong. Otherwise, you wouldn't be here today."_

Yes, she would become strong, she would stand up against her fears. If not for her sake, for the sake of the others. And for that, she needed to change, become a new person. She set the scissors that were in her hands on the edge of the sink. She then ran her right hand through her now short hair. Her violet hair was just short of reaching her neck.

"I'm going to change," she told herself silently before she left the bathroom.

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"Damn!" he cursed as he saw Meia's fighter first take the hit from a laser blast, and watched it plummet into that planet's atmosphere._ If she doesn't return, those pirates will kill me. Then again, if I'm not careful, these bastards will._

He was cut off by another fighter that was heading straight for him. _Not this again!_ He had no desire to have another collision with a suicidal fighter pilot, so he unloaded the entire rifle into the craft. He then engaged the machine's thrusters to shoot him up above the careening fighter. He reached behind and grabbed the vibrosword sheathed on the Striker's back. He kicked the thrusters on, and immediately made a heading towards the planet, on a similar trajectory that her damaged fighter took when it entered the atmosphere.

He was then intercepted by yet another fighter, this time from behind. With only seconds to spare, he decelerated enough to where fighter would easily catch up. At the last second, he shot his thrusters up just enough to where the feet of his machine connected with the fighter. Using his shield, he slammed the tip of it into the craft, and then shoved the sword straight into the engine of the craft. As quickly as he 'stepped' on the fighter, he was off of it. And the fighter plummeted into the atmosphere, exploding in it.

"I don't have time for this!" he fairly yelled as the alarm in his cockpit went off, warning of a missile lock. He engaged the thrusters once more, this time angling towards the ever-encroaching planet. Placing the shield in front of him, he charged straight into the planet's atmosphere. The missiles exploded prematurely, thanks to the intense heat. As the heat was starting to become unbearable, sweat ran down into his eyes, and he shook his head vehemently. Suddenly, an image of Sakura appeared in his mind, then was superimposed by an image of Meia.

"Not again! I won't let it happen again!" he yelled as he charged deeper into the atmosphere, damning the heat that threatened to burn him alive.

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Grinning with satisfaction, Arturo Mehtan, Captain of the E.D.A. Warship Avenger, leaned back in his command chair. He was pleased with the outcome as he'd watched the fighter, then the Striker, of all things, plummet into the atmosphere. He knew those heretics would send a recon team, and he had set up a trap for them. His ship was detached from the rest of the task force, giving him a somewhat independent command. Now all that was left was to recover the survivors, if there were any.

"You are to notify the commander of the ground forces, have him send an armed recovery team down to the planet's surface," he ordered a bridge crewman. "They are to take those pilots prisoner, if they are alive. Also, he is to recover the damaged Mejalean fighter, if possible."

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"_Aidan… let's just forget about everything… except each other…"_

Slowly, consciousness returned to Aidan, who was staring face down. It took him a few seconds to realize that he was looking down, and that the restraints were the only thing preventing him from falling flat on his face. He then thought back to when he'd first heard those words. Sakura had said them on their last night together, and they were the last significant words that night as well.

Bringing himself back to the present, he tried the controls, tried to get the machine to move, to no avail. Muttering a curse, he undid the straps, and he felt a sharp pain in his chest. Then he remembered that his injuries hadn't completely healed. As he landed on the cockpit hatch, he realized that he had to find Meia, and see if she was alright. He reached up behind the cockpit seat and grabbed a rucksack, he then grabbed a first aid kit, a canteen and a few other provisions, and put them in the rucksack.

He then reached under the seat and withdrew a sub-machinegun. He checked the gun to make sure it worked, then loaded a fresh clip into it. Slinging the rucksack over one shoulder, and the SMG over the other, he grabbed hold of the emergency release switch, and pulled. The hatch underneath his feet gave way as it was blown off by explosive bolts. He found himself staring into the depths of a jungle.

"Damn, this is going to be harder than I thought," he said upon seeing how vast this jungle really was. He checked his wrist computer, which was the length of about half of his forearm. It indicated that was a large mass of metal about four and a half kilometers northwest of his current location. Chances are that was where Meia had crashed.

"I don't quite know what you mean, Sakura," he said, referring to her comment about someone else in his life. "But I'm not going to let her die."

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Her vision hazy, Meia woke up to a biting pain in her right arm. She immediately grabbed hold of her injured arm, trying to stop the blood loss by applying pressure to the wound. She gritted her teeth against the ensuing pain that resulted from her touch. She looked at the cockpit of her Dread, which was damaged and shut down.

"Where am I?" she asked aloud, looking around. It was then that she noticed the patter of raindrops on the canopy. She realized that she must have crash-landed on the planet.

She then heard a hollow thud on the top of her Dread, as something either fell on it or climbed onto it. Fear started to grip her, as it could be someone or something with hostile intent, and with her injured arm, she couldn't fight back very well. She then heard tapping on the canopy, and she looked up to see Aidan, standing over the cockpit, motioning her to open it. She then reached over and tapped the stud that would open the cockpit. It didn't do anything. She tried again, and this time it budged, but didn't open completely. It was then that Aidan attempted to open it.

After a few moments of struggle, he managed to open it enough to let her slip out. When he did that, a strong gust of hot, humid air found its way into the cockpit, despite the fact that it was raining outside. The air also had a smell that she couldn't quite identify, although it was a smell she didn't like.

"You alright?" he asked as he held out his hand.

"Yeah," she replied as she accepted his hand.

"Right," he muttered as he pulled her out of the cockpit. His tone suggested that he only half-believed her. That and the fact that her right arm and left hand were covered in blood. "You're wounded."

"What gave it away?" she asked dryly, as she was clearly not in a very good mood.

He proceeded to help her get off the Dread and under the remaining wing, to get out of the rain. She sat down on the ground, leaning against the hull of her Dread for support. He crouched down in front of her. "Let me take a look at that."

"It… it's nothing," she replied. "Just a scratch."

"And what will I tell your comrades back on that ship," he said, smiling to take away any offense. "That you ended up dying because of a mere 'scratch'?"

"If you put it that way," she replied as she took off her glove and ring, rolled up the sleeve, wincing in pain as she pulled it up over the wound.

He reached into the bag that was slung over his shoulder, pulling out a first aid kit. He then opened the kit and started to get to work on her wound. She looked away the entire time, not wanting to watch him tending to her wound. First, he cleaned the wound, then injected an anesthetic into her arm, to help numb the pain. Finally, he applied a pressure bandage over the wound. "There, finished."

"Thanks," she replied, flexing her arm. "You came prepared."

"Always be prepared," he said, as if quoting something. "That axiom was drilled into me ever since I started military training. And besides, basic first aid is a training requirement."

Saying nothing more, she leaned her head back against her Dread, staring out into the rain. Briefly, she wondered why he was being so kind to her, even though he acted somewhat detached or cold to the others on board the Nirvana. She thought about asking him, but decided against it. One more thought plagued her mind.

_What am I going to do now?_

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Pretty much halfway done. I need to get this completed, so I can get on with a few other fanfics I have planned, including the sequel


	18. Chapter Seventeen: Hunted

Disclaimer: You people already know what I'm going to say, so I don't need to say it.

Author's Notes: Aside from the sequel to this, I still have the two fics that I all but abandoned. I plan on revising them and getting them up-to-date. As for others I have planned, I have a Vandread one that isn't related to The Unknown Soldier, as well as another one for Battletech.

Oh, and GyverWolf, glad to be of help. I wouldn't mind chatting with you either, when I could find the time.

**Vandread: The Unknown Soldier (Revised)**

**Chapter Seventeen: Hunted**

_Location: Meia's Dread. Jungle on Unknown planet._

It had been about an hour since they crash-landed in some jungle on this uncharted planet, and Meia was yet again in the cockpit of her Dread. She wasn't trying to get it repaired, as there was no way she could get it off this planet under it's own power, as it was missing a wing, and it's structure was pretty melted along the right side. As it stood, the lack of balance, as well as the damage, prevented her fighter from being usable anytime soon. No, she was trying to get the communications system back online.

"Any luck yet?" Aidan asked from the ground.

"A little. I've managed to get it partially functioning," she replied, still working on the comm system.

"Good, we need to be able to transmit a coded, tight-beam message to the Nirvana," he said.

"I know, I'm working on it," she replied. She knew that activating the Dread's distress beacon, or transmitting a broadband message, would undoubtedly give away their presence to that enemy warship lingering in orbit. If there was anything that she didn't want, it was to be captured or killed by the E.D.A. After thinking for a moment, she asked Aidan a question.

"What about your Striker?"

"What about it? It's not currently operable," he replied. "It sustained heavy damage during atmospheric entry. And besides, it's comm system is not as powerful as the one in your fighter."

"Oh," she replied as she continued to mess with the wires and circuit underneath one of the panels in the cockpit. After a bit more work, she managed to get the comm system to function once again. "Good, it's working."

Aidan climbed up to the cockpit, and peered inside. "Good, now all you need to do is relay the message, and set it on a coded frequency. Then, you compress it and send it out in the last known location of the Nirvana. I have a feeling that we aren't to be alone very much longer."

"What do you mean?" she asked after she completed sending the message.

"I think they are sending troops down here," he replied. "But I'm not completely sure."

"Troops?" she asked, a little worried, but trying her hardest not to show it. "What for? As far as they know, we're-"

"We're dead," he finished. "I know, but I believe they are coming for us. Either to capture or finish us off."

"If so, how long until they land?" she asked.

"From where their ship was last positioned, and the time it takes to get down here, I'd have to say, about two hours."

"Assuming what you say is correct," she said. "That leaves less us less than an hour. Which means…"

"Which means that we don't have much time," he completed. He unslung the weapon he was carrying, and tossed it into her lap. "Do you know how to use this?"

"If I had to… but," she said, gesturing to her laser ring. "I don't need it."

"Yes you do," he replied unhesitatingly. "The armor that they use is identical to the ones used in the Defense Forces. It's basically ballistic plate and Kevlar interwoven with a laser reflective material. Lower powered laser and energy weapons have little to no effect on it. That ring you use is effective, but it'd take something a little more powerful to penetrate their armor."

"Okay," was her only reply as she picked up the surprisingly lightweight weapon. It was compact, with an unusual, slightly curved handgrip, and an ammunition magazine positioned behind it.

"You know what?" he asked with a smirk.

"What?" she replied, not completely sure where this was going.

"You look far more attractive when you're troubled like that," he said, still smirking.

She felt her face get hot with embarrassment, and looked away from him. "Shut up."

He laughed in response, but cut off rather quickly when a distant roar sounded throughout the jungle. He quickly got serious. "Damn, they got here quicker than I expected."

"What does this mean?" she asked, her tone serious as well.

"It means they will find us very quickly if we stay here," he said, grabbing her by her uninjured arm, and helping her out of the Dread. When they both got to the ground, he hurriedly pulled her away from her Dread.

"What about my-"

"It's not going anywhere," he said as he pulled her into the jungle.

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The large, gray angular dropship sat down in a clearing in the jungle, immediately setting fire to any plant-life that was unlucky enough to under or around the powerful, fusion thrusters. It's current location was roughly five kilometers from where the Striker had crash-landed. Two minutes after the ship came to a rest on the ground, the rear bay doors opened with a mechanical whine. Almost before the bay doors settled onto the ground, several soldiers in full body armor jumped out of the craft, and onto the damp ground. They each gripped a laser rifle in their hands.

The last soldier casually walked down the ramp and onto the ground. What was different from this soldier was the fact that he had no rifle. Instead, he had a laser pistol holstered on his right hip. It was pretty clear he was the one in command of these troops. Once on the ground, he raised his helmet's visor and scanned the immediate area. His eyes then fell upon the men under his command. He then barked out orders to them.

"I want a search radius of ten kilometers from the dropship. I want the fighter and that Striker located. If you come across the pilots, and they are still alive, I want taken prisoner if possible. Report back to me immediately after you either them or the machines. Now, move it!"

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"That dropship is way too large for just a simple mop-up operation," Aidan said in a hushed tone as he stared at the craft with a pair of electronic binoculars. "They must be after something, other than us."

"They're here to steal my Dread," Meia replied. "They probably want it for its connection to the Paksis."

"Damn," he muttered, then turned to face Meia. "If that's the case, we can't let them have it."

"But we can't take on a unit of soldiers," Meia replied.

Just then, there was a crunching noise off to their left. He quickly motioned for Meia to get down. He knew she probably had little to no experience in the dirty business of ground combat, especially the kind he was put through. It was going to be tough trying to keep her alive. She may have a hell of a lot of experience as a fighter pilot and squadron commander, but almost none when it concerned this.

A pair of soldiers, with their weapons held at the ready, crept through the area, searching for them. He was going to have to be quick about this. But before he could do anything. A muffled series of shots slammed into one of the soldiers, causing him to drop to ground._ Damn!_ He'd have to act now. The other soldier turned and loosed a laser bolt in the direction he believed the shots were coming from.

He missed, the shot instead flash-burning the side of a tree. It wasn't too far from where Meia was crouched. The soldier apparently noticed her, and adjusted his aim. Before the man could fire, Aidan quickly drew his knife and jumped the soldier from behind. Thrusting the knife into his back, and grabbing him around the neck, Aidan threw the dead soldier to the ground. He then reached down and picked up the man's weapon.

"What would do without me?" he told her as she got up from where she was.

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"Sir, we've just lost contact with Patrol Team Four," the one of the soldiers reported.

"Send two of the teams off to their last known location," the commander ordered. "Any luck finding that fighter?"

"Negative, sir, we're still looking."

"Very well," he replied. He was not in all that great of a mood. Not only did he get a deduction in rank, but now he was back to commanding soldiers on the frontlines. He would prefer to command from farther back, but right now it couldn't be helped.

Suddenly, the speaker in his helmet crackled to life. "Sir, we have located the fighter, it is about nine kilometers northwest from your current position."

Finally, some good news. "Alright, deploy the recovery team, have them report to that location. They are to get it aboard the dropship, ASAP." He switched frequencies. "Any word on Four's status?"

"Sir, we have located them," the soldier reported. "They are both dead, and their weapons were taken."

_So, the pilots are still alive._ "Have all teams converge on your location, I want them stopped, but taken alive. Understood?"

"Understood, sir."

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_Something doesn't feel right._ That thought was confirmed when he and Meia were both surrounded by no less than twenty soldiers. Each one was aiming a weapon at either of them, and that wasn't a good thing. Aidan raised the laser rifle he'd taken into firing position, but his finger never tightened on the trigger. One of the soldiers stepped forward.

"Drop your weapons!" he commanded. "You are surrounded!"

He had no desire to die, not yet, so he complied. He slowly lowered his rifle, and dropped it to the ground. He then slowly pulled his handgun out of it's holster, and dropped it to the dirt as well. He then took his knife and did the same with it. He turned his head and nodded to Meia, who relented, lowering her weapon, then disarming herself.

As soon as that was finished the soldiers jumped Aidan, forcing him to the ground. They pulled his arms behind his back and applied restraints around his wrists. They had also restrained Meia. They dragged Aidan to his feet, and one of the soldiers prodded him the muzzle of his rifle. Before long, they were taken back to the enemy dropship.

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Watching them as they brought the prisoners to the dropship, the commander noticed that one of them was wearing the combat fatigues of an SDF infantryman. The other was a blue-haired woman wearing a pilot suit. Blood stained the right arm of it, as she apparently was wounded. He knew from intelligence that she was one of the Mejalean pirates who'd fought against Earth.

A spark of interest came over him, and he walked over to the SDF soldier. "Name and rank, soldier! Wait a minute, I know who you are. That scar on your face is familiar, I always remember _my_ handiwork"

The soldier, reacted like he'd just heard somebody that he believed was long dead. The man attempted to lash out violently when he heard his voice. He attempted to fight the guards, but failed. The soldier looked up at him, and he noticed something.

"You!" the soldier shouted. "Goddamn bastard!"

"Shut up, heretic!" the guard behind him slammed the stock of his rifle into his back, knocking him to his knees.

"It's nice to see you again, _Aidan Mercer_," he said sarcastically.

"Too bad I can't say the same, _traitor_," Aidan spat.

"Traitor is such an ugly word," he replied. "I'm merely working for the winning side, it's that simple."

"It wasn't unexpected of you," Aidan said, venom seeping into his voice.

"Perhaps I should tell you the truth about that assassination mission," he replied, smiling humorlessly. "The _real_ truth."

"What do you mean?" Aidan asked, sounding skeptical.

"That mission, I sent you to assassinate a professor that was supporting the E.D.A.," he said, his grin getting wider, more sinister. "The truth is that man was a double agent fro the SDF."

"What!" Aidan looked like he was stricken. "Then why'd you have me kill him? Why didn't they simply off him themselves?"

"There's the catch," he replied. "Thing is, it was their price for me to switch sides. I make it look like he was killed by an unsuspecting SDF soldier, so they could be rid of him. It worked perfectly."

Aidan's expression looked like that of a child who'd just witnessed his dog getting run over by a ground car. "That can't be…"

"That's right," he said, enjoying every moment of Aidan's suffering. "You killed one of your own, as well as that mother and her little girl, all for nothing. Their blood is on your hands."

"I refuse to believe it," Aidan finally said, regaining some of his composure.

"Believe it, who's the traitor now," he laughed.

Aidan muttered something in German, and the commander couldn't figure out what he said. By the sound of it, though, it was complimentary.

"I shall look forward to 'interrogating' you," he said finally, then addressed the guards. "Take them to the dropship."

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Meia was concerned, that was for sure. She'd heard the entire conversation between Aidan and the man that was obviously in command of those troops. That conversation disturbed her. Was Aidan really responsible for the death of a mother and her child? The man was pretty arrogant, and apparently he was a traitor. She was not sure if this information would change her opinion of him. She would have to ask him about him sometime, if they lived through this.

"Get moving."

She was brought back to reality by one of the guards prodding her in the back with his rifle. She gave him a defiant look as he led her to the dropship. Seconds later they dragged Aidan to his feet, and led him to the same place, a little less courteous than they were with her. They pointed to an unoccupied bench, and gestured for both of them to sit down. She noticed that her Dread was inside the cargo bay with them.

_So, they wanted it after all._

As she sat down next to Aidan, she felt slightly uncomfortable, but that could attributed to the fact that her hands were restrained behind her back. It made it somewhat difficult to sit down comfortable. She looked over at Aidan and considered asking him about that conversation, but decided against it. He looked dejected, and not in the mood to talk, especially about that. Turning back to face her Dread, whose view was partially blocked by a guard standing in front of them. She leaned her head back against the cool metal surface of the craft as it blasted off, heading straight for the same warship that shot her down.

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How's that for you, two updates in less than a week. I hope to get the next chapter up by Friday, hopefully.


	19. Chapter Eighteen: Captive

Disclaimer: Damn, why do I keep repeating this?

**Vandread: The Unknown Soldier**

**Chapter Eighteen: Captive**

_Location: Brig of E.D.A. Warship Avenger_

Tightly clenching his fists, Aidan tried to banish the horrible memories from his mind. These particular ones came back with intensity after that conversation with that bastard. No matter how he tried, he'd always be haunted by them. He remembers standing over them, pointing a gun, first at the little girl. Driven by an impulse that he did not want and tried not to obey, he pulled the trigger, then adjusted his aim and fired again. He thought that was bad enough, but with the information the traitor provided, it became even worse. Even though the info could be false, he felt that it pretty much true.

"Dammit…" he muttered, careful not to get the attention of the guards.

As he sat there on the single bunk that occupied his cell, he contemplated on how he'd kill that bastard if he could ever get his hands on him. He also wanted to escape, but chances are he'd be killed long before he'd ever make it off this ship. There was nothing better to do, so he would risk taking a nap. There was always the fact he would be haunted by those same memories while he slept, but even still, he tried. He moved from a sitting position to a lying one, and stared up at the blank, dull ceiling. It wasn't long before he drifted off into a fitful sleep.

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The situation was similar in the cell next to Aidan's, except it's occupant wasn't trying to get some sleep. In fact, she utterly refused to give in to that desire. Meia sat on the bunk, leaning against the wall, thinking over the events of the past several hours. That conversation still bugged her, but she was thinking of something else at the moment. She didn't like her situation at all.

_What would make these people side with Earth?_

These people were crazy. These guys are probably looking forward to being 'harvested', like it was some high priority goal in life, she thought with bitter humor. She brought her arm up and gently rested her hand on her bandaged arm. Pretty much overcome with exhaustion due to the events of the last several hours. She fought against the tempting lure of sleep, for she did not want to keep her guard down for even a moment while held captive.

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_Meanwhile, on the Nirvana…_

Maria strode down the corridor, full of new confidence after thinking over her priorities. She had finally come to a decision, and that decision was to forget about the past and just be determined in a set goal, to protect the welfare of her friends and the people back on her home planet.

As she walked by a few people, she received sidelong glances from a few of them. It was only natural, as she looked different than before. Whereas her violet hair used to be shoulder-length, now it barely reached down to her neck. It wasn't long before she made it to where she was originally headed, the cafeteria. She was looking for someone, and she had found her. She walked to where Dita was sitting.

"So, there you are," she said, getting Dita's attention. "I was looking for you."

Dita looked up from what she was doing, and stared at her a moment before recognizing her. "Oh, hi, Maria. I like the new look."

"Thanks," she replied, accepting the compliment. "I just wanted to apologize for what I said to you the other day."

"Okay," Dita replied. "But you don't really need to apologize. I understood how you felt."

"Thanks for understanding," she said.

"No problem," Dita replied, flashing her usual smile.

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On the other side of the cafeteria, a solitary person sat at one of the tables. Misty sat there, with her food completely untouched, due to the fact that she was in deep thought. She wondered just where Meia had went, and why she had not returned. They same could be said of the soldier that went by the name of Aidan Mercer. Why had they not returned? She hoped that they had not been captured or killed by the enemy.

"Dear sister, where are you?"

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The tone of the conference room where the two of the three highest ranking pirates were, was a little more somber. They were discussing what they would do in the event that they were attacked again.

"So what do you propose we do, BC?" Magno asked.

"With half of our remaining pilots wounded, and our squadron leader's absence," BC answered, referring to Meia. "We can't very well fight and hope to win, as they have more ships and that device."

"I agree," Magno replied. "But where do you suppose we go?"

"Long-range scans have located a large nebula in front of us," BC reported. "I propose we use the nebula to hide from them until we can figure out how to mount a counter-attack."

"Hmm… very well," Magno replied, coming to a decision. "We'll go with that, but what do we do if Meia tries to return and isn't able to locate us?"

"The best we can do is leave a marker of our last known location, and hope she figures out from there," BC replied.

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As soon as the alarm sounded throughout the ship, everyone stopped what they were doing and immediately headed for their stations. For Jura, that meant to head immediately for her Dread and prepare to launch. It took her a few minutes, but she was able to make it there before Dita. What didn't help matters was the fact that Meia was absent from the ship, which also meant that her Dread was not there either. That also left her in command of the Dread Teams, something that had been decided long ago because of the lack of capable pilots. Once she got into the cockpit of her fighter, the image of BC appeared on her main monitor.

"All Dread Teams, you are to remain on standby," BC commanded. "We are not going to engage them, for now."

"What's up?" she couldn't help but ask.

"We are at a disadvantage against them," BC responded. "Therefore, we are heading straight for a nebula to escape from them for the time being."

"Understood," she replied.

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"Colonel Albrecht," the Captain of the S.D.S. Whirlwind said through the commline.

Looking up from the reports he was looking over, he tapped the stud on his desk and replied. "What is it, Captain?"

"We have just picked up an encoded transmission," the Captain's gruff voice replied.

"Where from?" he queried.

"It was emitted from that planet at ten o'clock," the Captain replied.

"What does it say?" he asked.

"I have someone decoding it right now," the Captain responded. "We'll be able to read in about five minutes."

"Alright," he said. "I'm coming to the bridge."

"Understood," came the reply.

It took him a few minutes, but once he made it to the bridge, the contents of the message were all but forgotten. The bridge crew was in the middle of what could be called controlled chaos. Apparently, something came up that was far more important than a mere message. He strode up to the Captain, who was sitting in his chair, issuing orders to the bridge crew.

"What's happening, Captain?" he asked after waiting for the Captain to finish giving out a string of orders.

"We have located what appears to an E.D.A. vessel," the Captain replied, not bothering to take his eyes off the image of warship on the main view-screen. "Intrepid Class Destroyer."

"Have they detected us?" he asked.

"They have yet to make any movement," the Captain replied. "So, from what I can tell, no, they haven't."

"We could take advantage of this," he said after thinking for a few seconds.

"Do you have a plan?" the Captain asked.

"Yes, I do," he replied.

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He had only gotten about a half hour of sleep when the alarm sounded throughout the ship. Cursing silently to himself, Damon climbed out of his bunk and immediately grabbed a fresh uniform from the locker and put it on as quickly as he could. He exited his quarters and ran down to his action station, which was located in the main cargo bay. He entered the lift, and pressed the stud that would take him to the cargo bay. It took several long, painful seconds as the lift transported to where he needed to go.

He'd been promoted to First Lieutenant and given temporary command of Team Five of the 4th Special Forces Detachment. His original team leader and also friend, was none other than Aidan Mercer. He'd been given command upon Aidan's disappearance, along with the Artemis, the ship he last was reported on. Damon did not believe that Aidan was dead, for he was a hard man to kill.

After he finally got off the lift, he headed straight to where the rest of the team was assembled. He walked directly over to Heinrich Steiner. "What are our orders?"

Steiner, large, muscular man who stood over six feet tall, walked up to him. He had close-cropped blond hair that was cut in what some called a flat-top. His dark blue eyes finished out his imposing figure. When he spoke, it was with a deep Germanic accent, speaking of his ancestral roots.

"We are to prepare for immediate boarding action. They have located an enemy vessel in this system."

"Alright then," he replied. "Grenadiers, suit up."

He walked over to where they had the Heavy Assault Type Powered Armor, or 'Krieger' as it was also known. Nodding to the tech assigned to him as he was handed the black, skin-tight bodysuit. It was necessary to operate the armor effectively, as it was made out sensor mesh, that allowed it to transmit movement and other specialized commands to the armor's internal computer. It also allowed the operator to be hooked up to the automated medical pack built into the armor. The suit would help monitor the operator's condition and apply painkillers and other drugs in he or she was wounded.

He stripped out his uniform and into the form-fitting bodysuit, then approached the armor. Hefting himself into the armor, he locked his legs into the suit's heavy, armored boots. He then leaned forward and positioned his upper torso onto the heavy breastplate. He then inserted his arms into their armored equivalents and gripped the manipulator controls, which would allow him to operate the suit's mechanical hands. With help from the tech, he was able to lock the breastplate onto the rest of the armor. The tech then began to lock all connections and seal them, so the suit could operate properly in a vacuum.

The tech then plugged a series of wires into the chest, and ran a series of diagnostics, to make sure the armor would work properly. While the tech ran those checks, Damon operated the suit's fully manipulative hands. Satisfied that they working properly, he grabbed a specially-modified heavy double-barreled laser rifle, and attached it to his armor's right vambrace. Since they were going into the confines of a warship, they would need to be armed for close-combat. The rest of his team would be armed similarly. Private Nick Hawkins, the team's explosives specialist, would also carry a special canvas bag full of breaching charges and other explosives.

Once the tech finished, he gave Damon a thumbs-up, which he fully-operational and ready to go. He lowered the faceplate of his helmet, which had a skull motif painted on the front of it. Damon briefly thought about how the Solaris Defense Force liked to make helmets resemble skulls. The 'eyes' of the helmet glowed and eerie red once the armor was fully activated. He then engaged the helmet's built-in comm system.

"Grenadiers. Comm check!" he bellowed.

"Steiner, ready."

"Marks here, acknowledge."

"DeMarco here, I'm ready to go."

"Akida here, ready."

"Deveroux here, I'm online and good to go."

"Hawkins here, ready to rock'n roll."

Damon waited for a second, for the last member of the team had yet to report. "Collins, you ready?"

"Uh, yes sir," Collins replied.

"Good," he replied. "Let's move out!"

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"Sir! An unidentified vessel has just appeared on our scans!" the sensor operator, her voice tense with controlled excitement.

_Blast!_ "Can you confirm who it belongs to?" Admiral Alexander Graff bellowed.

"No sir," the operator responded. "It doesn't match anything in the database, and the nebula is interfering with our scans."

"Dammit," he muttered to himself. "Bring it up onscreen."

"Yes, sir," the tech replied as she brought up the image of a decent sized, elegant-looking silver vessel. He judged that it was a warship by the way it looked, for a civilian or transport would not have a sleek, deadly look to it.

The Dauntless, along with the rest of the surviving vessels of the Solaris Defense Fleet, had taken shelter in this nebula to avoid detection by the larger E.D.A. forces. There were about thirty vessels of various size and class left to them. Now, some unknown warship, possible hostile, was on the verge of discovering his fleet. He did not want the location of his fleet discovered, so he had to come to a decision.

"Alright, I want several combat teams to prep for immediate boarding operations," he ordered. "Have then assemble in the cargo bay, I'll be down shortly to brief them."

"Understood, sir," the crewman responded.

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Jolted awake by a violent shudder throughout the ship, Aidan immediately sat up, wondering what was happening. He looked out of his cell, and he noticed several crewmen running down the corridor. He could also hear panicked shouting in the corridor as well. It appeared as if this ship he was on was under attack…

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Huzzah! That makes the third update in a week. Any feedback, even negative, is appreciated.


	20. Chapter Nineteen: Liberation

Disclaimer: What am I doing repeating this yet again? You already know what the hell it's for.

**Vandread: The Unknown Soldier (Revised)**

**Chapter Nineteen: Liberation**

_Location: E.D.A. Warship Avenger, Outer Hull._

Jumping out of a spacecraft was slightly more challenging than one might think. As there was no gravity in space, one would not fall in the natural sense. One had to use specialized maneuvering thrusters if they wanted to control their movement in zero-gravity. As the assault ship that the Grenadiers were on was angled sideways relative to the enemy warship, anyone watching from said warship would see the troopers come in at a sideways angle. Of course, they had to use the thrusters to slow their approach to the vessel, otherwise they'd end up splattering themselves on the side of the large ship.

As his armored boots came into contact with armor on the hull, Damon activated the magnetic function of the boots that allowed him to stay on the hull, instead of floating off where some fighter jock would probably pick him off. The commandos looked like armored parasites when they bounded over the side of warship, and all gathered around an airlock. Without a need to be told, Hawkins placed a breaching charge on the airlock, then pulled the ripcord and bolted away from it.

"Fire in the hole!" Hawkins crowed over the commline seconds before a massive shudder was felt along the hull of the damaged vessel. As they were in space, and space had no atmosphere, there was no air for the explosion to expand in the normal way. All there was to see was a brief flash as the explosion quickly consumed the oxygen that leaked from the gaping hole. They felt, rather than heard the explosion the ripped a hole in the airlock.

Mere seconds after the explosion died out, the Grenadiers bolted through the destroyed airlock. They quickly made their way into the ship before the bulkheads started to close off, isolating the breach, and saving the rest of that deck from the same fate. Once inside, Damon made a brief check to make sure they all made into the ship safely. After that, they proceeded straight for their objective. Their team was tagged to take the lower levels of the ship, while the remaining two teams would handle the rest of the ship.

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Thirty soldiers snapped to immediate attention as the Commander of the remainder of the Solaris Defense Force, Admiral Alexander Graff, entered the Dauntless' main cargo bay. Major Nigel Owens stood at the head of the twenty-five men, for he was their commander. Being in his late thirties, he was of normal age for the rank he now held. He would personally be leading the six, five-man assault teams on the mission that was about to be assigned to them.

"As of four hours ago, an unknown vessel entered the nebula, not far from where we are located. It does not belong to either us or the E.D.A., from the looks of it. It is a potential problem," Graff said as he brought up an image of the graceful looking vessel. "Your objective will be to secure this vessel, so it no longer will be a wild card. You are to use only authorized to lethal force if there is no other alternative. The reason for this is so there are no political repercussions later, if this belongs to another nation. You are to prepare for the mission as soon as the briefing is over. Further details will be explained by Major Owens. That is all."

As soon as the Admiral stepped down, Owens turned and addressed his men. "Alright! You heard the man. Suit up!"

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Reflexively snapping a shot from each barrel, Damon bulled his way into the midst of the enemy soldiers thinking to impede his way. This was beginning to be too damn easy, Damon had been trained not to believe anything to be 'easy.' It's like they'd never even seen powered armor before, and probably thought of them as a horde of demons intent on sending them to hell. Damon believed the latter part was correct. Indeed, he would all of his enemies straight to hell. Until some them got a little smarter, and started to regroup and set up barricades made of overturned metal tables and similar items to block the commandos' path.

That proved to be a futile attempt, as Steiner proved it by sending a long, rolling burst from the four-barreled chain gun underslung on his suit's right arm. The large, bulky weapon, tore through the barricades like they weren't even there, splattering the poor soldiers all over the corridor. The weapon was not loaded with it's normal ammo load of armor-piercing rounds. It was loaded with flechette rounds, which were not nearly powerful enough to penetrate any part of the ship.

"This is almost too easy," Hawkins commented after Steiner blasted the small group of soldiers.

"It almost looks like they weren't even expecting a fight," Ria DeMarco put in.

"Cut the chatter," Damon commanded. "We're not done yet."

Upon reaching an intersection in the corridors, Damon turned to the left to see a soldier with his arm coiled back, ready to throw a grenade at them. True to his training, Damon kept his weapon following his eyes, and put a couple of smoking holes in the man's chest before the grenade left his hand. The now lifeless corpse dropped the grenade and it went off three seconds later, taking out the other soldier next to him.

"Holy shit!" Hawkins said as he saw what happened. "Talk about unlucky."

Ignoring the comment, Damon gestured for them to keep on advancing.

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Major Owens checked over his men as they stood at attention, completely outfitted in their gear. With their helmets in hand and their rifles slung over their shoulders, they looked as ready as they'd ever be. Every trooper was outfitted with body armor that had a laser reflective material woven into it, a phased laser rifle, allowing them to switch between lethal and non-lethal fire, a laser pistol of the same type, a combat knife and smoke or flash-bang grenades. The body armor was of special design, as it was more of a suit than a vest or jacket. It covered just about every part of the trooper, except the joints, hands and head. They also had a helmet with selective vision, meaning it could switch between infrared, low-light, etc. It was also crafted to vaguely resemble the face of a skull, primarily for intimidation and aesthetic purposes.

"Alright, everyone, mount up!" he commanded as they turned and boarded the sleek, black assault shuttle that would be their transportation.

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She didn't know about the rest of the crew, but she really felt edgy. Barnette was staring out one of the many view ports on the Nirvana, trying to calm herself down somewhat. It didn't seem to work very well. Her injury from the assassin attack still pained her somewhat, and that didn't help matters. She was mad because she wanted to kill that assassin, and wanted to exact revenge on the people who'd employed her. She was also mad because of the reason for it all, that young woman who was the daughter of the former leader of that planet, Solaris.

"Damn that man…" she muttered, referring to Aidan.

She was still sore about being defeated by him back when they'd first encountered him. Only the intervention of the woman named Maria prevented her from taking a bullet to the back of her head, from her gun, _her gun_. Then their argument came to mind, and she remembered it. The coldness of his voice, suddenly turning intensely vehement. Was it even possible, that he was in love with a woman? He made references to a woman named Sakura, and he'd said that she was the only thing in his life that mattered. Briefly, she thought about Jura, and what it would feel like for her to lose her. She knew she couldn't bear it. Then she noticed something black outside the view port.

"What the hell is that?" she asked herself, noticing as it slowly approached. "Is that a…"

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He had seen where the shot had come from, but by the time he noticed, there was nothing he could have done to stop it. The shot had come from a soldier wielding a high-powered laser carbine, and whether by sheer luck or excellent aim, the shot had taken Collins in collar of his armor. Even though the armor was built to withstand all but the heaviest handheld infantry weapons, they were not foolproof against all of them. It hit the place where the helmet connected with the rest of the armor, where it was only lightly armored. Collins collapsed heavily to the deck, his armor making an audible thud when it hit.

Before Damon and Deveroux could close to deal with the enemy soldier, Damon took a shot in the left shoulder, melting the armor but failing to penetrate. Before they could react any further, they found the hatch slammed shut in their armored faces. Deveroux attempted to force open the hatch, to no avail.

"Dammit, the bastard locked it!" Deveroux said, stating the obvious.

Damon turned to see the armored form of Ria kneel down next to Collins' fallen form. A slick red liquid was starting puddle on the floor. He'd bled to death before anyone could have assisted him. With an over-exaggerated shake of her head, she basically said that he didn't make it.

"Dammit," he muttered. "Hawkins, I want that hatch open now!"

"Already on it," Hawkins replied as he placed a small explosive device to the hatch door. He pulled the ignition cord and quickly backed away. "Get clear!"

As soon as the hatch was blown away, he charged through the flames and smoke, and identified his target running for cover. _You should have run away sooner, because now it's too late._ With cold precision attained through hours of training, he leveled his weapon at the fleeing soldier and fired. Almost instantaneously two beams of coherent light caught him straight in the back, knocking the man forward to the deck. His weapon clattered to the deck as he slid from the momentum of his forward movement.

After watching the man's awkward death scene, Damon turned to notice that he was on the same level where the brig was located. Driven by an odd sense of curiosity, he'd shouldered his way through the doors to the brig. Immediately after disposing of the two fear-stricken guards, he'd noticed someone who looked awfully familiar. He got up off of his bunk and walked the short distance to the cell bars.

"About damn time you got here," Aidan said with a slight smile.

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Almost literally jumping off of her bunk when the doors just suddenly caved in under what appeared to enormous pressure, Meia regained her composure quickly. An armored figure that had to be almost three meters tall and bulled it's way through the doors, then taking care of the guards with a few short-range blasts from a laser weapon mounted to it's right arm. When the figure's head turned to look briefly at her, she felt a chill run down the length of her spine. The figure had a grim, evil-looking skull-like visage. The eyes even glowed red, adding to the whole effect. Briefly, she thought how back on Mejale, they had used spacesuit that were for a similar purpose. Although this one put their attempts at intimidation to shame.

"About damn time you got here," she heard Aidan say. From the sound of his voice, he wasn't afraid of the hulking metal monster that stood outside their cells.

In response, the metal figure drew back it's left arm, and drove it's armored fist into the lock mechanism with more than enough force to smash the lock into pieces. Aidan walked out of his cell.

"What are you doing in a place like this?" the figure's amplified voice said.

"It's a long story," Aidan replied as he picked one of the dead guards' rifles. He proceeded to walk over to here to her cell, and shot the lock mechanism, allowing her exit her cell.

"And who's this?" the figure asked as it reached up and opened the faceplate of the helmet. In it was a dark-haired man that looked the near the same age as Aidan. Then it struck her, this was the man with black hair that was in Aidan's picture.

"A friend," Aidan replied as more of the armored figures approached the room.

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"Captain, we are picking up a transmission from an unidentified craft," Ezra reported from her station, then added. "It's audio only."

"Put it on," Magno ordered.

"Yes, ma'am," she replied as she pressed a button that would allow everyone on the bridge to hear it.

"_This is the… control thrusters and navigation system damaged. In need of…"_ the message cut off into static.

"It's coming from that small craft," BC said, bringing up a not-so clear image of the black craft. The image wasn't good enough to pick up any specific details of the craft, due to magnetic interference from the nebula.

"They sound like they're in trouble, Magno said after a moment. "Give them clearance to dock."

"Captain, is that wise?" BC asked. "We don't know who they are or where they're from."

"I know that," Magno replied, turning to look at BC. "But, if they're in trouble, then we have no choice but to assist them."

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"Major, we have just received permission to dock with the ship," the pilot reported to Owens.

"Alright," he replied. "Once we are on board, Alpha and Beta Teams will move to secure the bridge. Charlie and Delta Teams will locate and secure the engine room. Finally, Teams Gamma and Epsilon will take a roundabout route and also make a run for the bridge."

He knew this mission was going to go off without a hitch, due to the fact that they were going to take them totally unaware. They think we are a damaged craft in need of assistance, how wrong they are. The ruse had worked perfectly.

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Not too much longer, and I'll have this finished.


	21. Chapter Twenty: Error

Disclaimer: Same as before, all said.

**Vandread: The Unknown Soldier (Revised)**

**Chapter Twenty: Error**

_Location: Nirvana, Main Hangar._

"Now, that's odd," one member of the security detail commented as she laid her eyes upon the shuttle.

"Yeah," another commented. "It doesn't look like it's damaged, or in need of any assistance."

"Then, why-" the first security guard's comment was cut short by a blast of laser fire catching her high in the chest. Before the second or any other of the security personnel could react, several armed men rapidly exited the craft, leveling their weapons at any of the pirates. Without so much as a word from the skull-masked men wielding the rifles, they opened fire.

In less than a minute, the pirates had all been subdued. At least, that's what Major Owens thought they were. They did not have any military uniform that he could identify, and they were armed, which meant they weren't civilians. There wasn't much else, but to assume that these women were pirates. With a few hand motions he directed the teams to head for their assigned objectives. Then he waved for Alpha and Beta teams to follow him. They had a vessel to capture.

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"BC, any word on our guests?" Magno asked.

"Not yet," BC answered. "The security team I sent to the hangar hasn't reported in yet."

"Captain!" Belvedere interrupted. "There are reports of weapons' fire in the corridors outside the hangar!"

"What!" BC said in disbelief.

"The intruders are from that shuttlecraft," Amarone stated. "There are at least three groups, and they have split off in different directions."

"One of their targets must be here," Magno stated, toggling the intercom system. "All hands, prepare to repel boarders, I repeat, prepare to repel boarders."

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Corporal Daniel Harwell glanced at the tactical display mounted on his left arm gauntlet, trying to figure out just where they were supposed to head to. Their objective was to secure the engine room, so they couldn't try to run the ship from there, or try some suicidal maneuver that would destroy the entire ship. Although, from what he saw of the personnel of this ship, they probably wouldn't try to do anything _that _crazy.

As he was in command of one of the two teams tagged to secure the engine room, he had to be sure that he knew where they were going. They were immediately sidetracked by a small group of women armed with what appeared to be laser rifles. Immediately taking cover around a corner, Harwell was immediately followed by the four other men in his team. It was then they came upon a little more resistance than expected.

They became pinned down all but less than a minute before Harwell thought of a plan. With a few quick hand signals, he basically told two of his to throw a couple of smoke grenades into the middle of there opponents. With quick fluidity, he activated his infrared vision and bolted out from cover as the smoke began to fill the corridor. The thick smoke would obscure the vision of the women, and would upset their breathing. Due to built-in air filters in his helmet, though, he was not subjected to the white smoke. Taking little time, he aimed, fired, then switched targets until all of them were knocked unconscious. As soon as the last woman fell to the deck, he signaled his team to move with a wave of his hand.

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_Looks like I will finally find a vent for my bottled up frustration._ Barnette felt as if only combat would allow her the opportunity to do so. She also had a feeling that something was not right with that shuttle that she saw, and this proved it. Now, there were several armed men roaming throughout the ship. Her, along with several others from the security detachment, took up positions outside the engine room. Barnette had come to the conclusion that their targets were there and the bridge, but she couldn't have reached the bridge in time, so she decided to defend the other.

Seeing as how she would be dealing with heavily armed and armored soldiers, she decided to pull out some heavier firepower than just her handgun. She had decided to take along her heaviest weapon, the M249 SAW, or Squad Automatic Weapon. Even though it was an antique, it was still quite effective, and with it she could lay down a barrage of shells that would take out, or at least pin down the soldiers that were headed here. She hefted the heavy weapon up into position.

_No matter what,_ she thought to herself._ I will not let even one of them get past me._

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Corporal Harwell assumed that they weren't very far from their objective. They only fired on anyone who offered resistance on their way through the ship's corridors. That proved not to be all that difficult, but things did not always appear to be what they were. And that what was just about to happen. For when they turned the corner, they noticed a larger group of women, and one of them caught his eye. It was the woman standing defiantly in the center.

She had short, dark hair, and was wearing what appeared to be. Hell, he couldn't really tell what she was wearing, but it made her quite appealing. He would have thought of her as attractive, if it weren't for the fact that she was carrying a pretty good-sized machine gun. Whereas some of the women shied back a little after seeing the grim-masks of the soldiers, the dark-haired one did not so much as flinch. He attempted to aim his weapon and fire, but she was faster, as she already held her weapon at the ready.

"Shit!" was the first thing out of his mouth as he knew he was too late to shoot her with his rifle. Flame leapt from the barrel of her weapon as it unleashed a large amount of shells in his direction. Before he knew it, several of the slugs slammed into him with enough force to knock him off his feet. He fell heavily to the deck, and his head slammed back and almost knocked him unconscious. Fighting to keep himself conscious, he felt first the biting pain of a what appeared to be a few bullets that managed to get past his armor, and then the dull pain from the ones that hit him but didn't penetrate.

One of his men dragged him back behind cover as the rest of his men covered him. The soldier that dragged him to safety was Private Rawlins. Rawlins helped him into a sitting position.

"You alright, sir?" Rawlins asked, a little concern in his voice.

"I'll be fine," he replied. "The rest of you, meet up with Delta Team and help them take the engine room. I'll try to stall them here."

"But, sir-" Rawlins started to protest, but was cut off by a wave of Daniel's hand.

"You questioning my order? I said go!" he barked as he drew his laser pistol, as he dropped his rifle back when he was knocked to the deck. "I'll buy you some time, now get moving!"

He watched as Rawlins nodded and took the rest of the team and headed to Delta Team's location. He sat there, leaning against the wall, waiting for them to advance…

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When the fire stopped coming from around the corner, Barnette had assumed they had moved to a different location. Still, she had to check to see if they were still there. She crept cautiously over to the corner, keeping her weapon at the ready. She pressed her back against the wall, and started to move. She rapidly turned, but no one was there, at least at eye level. She glanced down, her weapon following her gaze. She immediately noticed a lone soldier leaning up against the wall, pointing a pistol up at her. From the way he clutched his side, and the dark liquid running down his side, she could tell that this was the soldier she'd shot. Her weapon never wavered, and neither did his, despite him being wounded. She couldn't see his face, due to the mask of his helmet

"Drop your weapon," she commanded. "And take off your helmet."

"What if I don't want to," he replied defiantly.

"Judging from your wound," she replied. "And the fact that you are surrounded, I don't think you're in any position to argue."

Without saying anything, the soldier held the gun away from his body and dropped it to the deck. Her weapon still trained on him, she kicked it away from so he couldn't make a grab for it. Slowly, he unhooked the collar of his suit and pulled the helmet off of his head. It was then she got a good look at him. He had short, black hair, kept in a typical fashion for male soldiers, and deep blue eyes. When he brought his gaze up to hers, she could tell that he wasn't dejected or angry, something she'd expected of him.

"Who are you and why'd you attack us?" she asked him.

"Corporal Daniel Harwell," he stated flatly. "Assigned to the 11th Space Combat Division, Solaris Defense Force."

"Solaris?" she replied, hardly believing it. "You're from Solaris?"

"Yes," he replied, biting back pain from his wound. "What of it?"

"Why did you attack us?" she asked. "We're supposed to be on the same side."

"Same side?" he replied. "What do you mean?"

"We've been fighting these fanatics calling themselves the E.D.A.," she replied. "Ring any bells?"

"Yes, it does," he replied. "But why are they attacking you?"

"Attacking us?" she replied sarcastically. "The real question is, why did you guys attack us?"

"We were given orders to secure this ship," he replied. "That is all I know. And, your crew that we shot should be okay, as we weren't authorized to use lethal force. There, I answered your question, now answer mine."

"The reason they attacked is because we have your dead leader's daughter on board this ship," she replied. "I believe her name was Maria."

"Huh?" he replied. "Maria Shakov is on board this ship?"

"Yes," she replied. "It's about time someone took care of your wound."

"How kind of you to notice," he replied sarcastically.

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Startled awake by the crack of weapons fire, Maria bolted out of her bed. She was curious more than frightened, so she decided she figure out what was happening on her own. She quickly put on her clothes and headed for the door. Upon opening it, she noticed several men outfitted with black armor run down the corridor. What caught her eye was the insignia that she'd noticed on the shoulder of one the soldiers. The sword-clutching gauntlet of the Solaris Defense Force. But why? Why were they attacking this ship? One way or another, she had to find out, and put a stop to it.

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Bursting through the doors of the bridge, Major Nigel Owens and no less than four combat teams quickly surrounded the crew on the bridge, leveling their weapons at them. Several of them shied back from the intimidating features and weapons that were being aimed at them. It only appeared as the two up at the center of the bridge did not react to their presence the same way.

"What is the meaning of this?" the silver-haired woman asked sternly.

"You and your ship are now under the control of the Solaris Defense Force," he replied. "Failure to stand down and comply will be met with lethal force."

"Solaris Defense Force?" the old woman asked.

"Yes," he replied. "Now, stand down or we will open fire."

Before anyone else could speak, the sound of a young woman's voice sounded throughout the bridge.

"You will not," the young woman with short violet hair said.

It took him a moment, but he finally recognized the young woman as Maria Shakov, daughter of the late Prime Minister. Caught almost completely off-guard, he stayed silent for a few moments, then removed his helmet and began to speak.

"Miss Shakov, aren't you supposed to be on the Artemis?" he asked. "What are you doing on this ship?"

"Why are attacking this ship?" she countered. "As far as I know, they had not engaged in any hostile action against you."

"You didn't answer my question," he said flatly.

"I will only answer your questions if you agree to stand down," she replied. "These people are not your enemy."

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Moving at a pretty good pace. It won't be long before I get the revised version


	22. Chapter TwentyOne: Interlude, Part One

Disclaimer: Crap, how many times have I put this up here?

Author's Note: As the name of this and the next chapter will imply, these two chapters are a 'break in the action.'

**Vandread: The Unknown Soldier (Revised)**

**Chapter Twenty-One: Interlude, Part One**

_Location: Main Hangar, S.D.S. Whirlwind._

Slowly, almost delicately, the small assault craft positioned itself in the designated landing area of the hangar. The thrusters switched position from horizontal to vertical, to allow the craft cushion it's landing. Not long after it's landing struts touched the deck, the hangar began to re-pressurize. As soon as that was finished, the rear bay door of the craft lowered, effectively becoming a ramp to allow several soldiers wearing heavy black armor to disembark. Two others walked down the ramp as well.

Aidan glanced around, almost relieved that he was on a familiar ship. It had been a while since he had set foot on an SDF vessel. He glanced over to his right to notice a Striker locked into it's gantry. Techs had just started to work on it, replacing armor and damaged components as needed. He was jolted out of staring at the damaged machine by someone shouting his name.

"Hey, Mercer!" Damon called from across the hangar, loud enough to be heard over the sounds of the repairs.

"What?" he answered back as he jogged over to where Damon stood next to a communications panel on the wall.

"Just finished speaking with the Colonel," Damon said. "He would like to have a word with you, and that woman over there."

"When?" he asked.

"As soon as you can," came Damon's reply.

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After getting off the shuttle, Meia stretched her sore muscles._ Apparently, they don't build those things with comfort in mind,_ she thought bitterly. She then heard Aidan being called over by the man who'd released them. The hangar was bustling with activity, mostly technicians and repair crews working on damaged machines. No one seemed to pay attention to her, for they were busy performing their duties. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Aidan walking up to her.

"What did he say?" she asked, more out of curiosity than any real desire to know.

"My commanding officer would like me to report to his office as soon as possible, and he wants you to come along as well," Aidan replied.

"Well then," she said. "It would be best if we did not keep him waiting then."

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Aidan brought himself up to attention as he pressed the intercom button next to the door of the Colonel's office. Meia was standing right beside him. He then spoke.

"Captain Aidan Mercer," he said.

"Enter," the Colonel replied.

He then stepped through the door and brought his right hand up in a salute, immediately followed by Meia. "Reporting as ordered, sir."

"Captain Aidan Mercer," Colonel Albrecht said. "Nice of you to join us after so long, you were labeled as missing in action when the Artemis never reported in."

"Well sir, that's a long story," he replied.

The man known as Karl Albrecht stood slightly taller than Aidan and had a well fit, muscular frame. His brush-cut hair was black, with a few gray streaks running throughout it. His eyes were also gray, but the most noticeable feature was the long, crescent-shaped scar that ran from right below his right eye to his jaw. He was in his early forties.

"I'm sure, but we'll get into those details later," Albrecht replied, then shifted his attention. "Now, you're the one who sent out that encoded message from that planet, didn't you?"

Meia stepped forward slightly and replied. "Yes, and my name is Meia Gisborn."

"Are you, perhaps, one of those people that defeated Earth when they attacked your home?" Albrecht asked.

"If you mean their attack on the Tarak/Mejale system, then yes," Meia replied. "I was part of the squadron that spearheaded the attack on them."

"Now," Albrecht turned back to Aidan. "You were about to explain what exactly happened after the Artemis disappeared?"

"Yes sir," he replied as he started to explain it to his commander.

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Major Owens didn't want to believe what he'd just heard, but what Maria and these pirates had just told him was more than true. The Artemis was destroyed and the entire crew dead. Only Maria and a special forces soldier acting as her temporary bodyguard had made it off the ship alive. He'd been told that the soldier, a one Captain Mercer, had activated the self-destruct system on the crippled vessel to prevent it from falling into enemy hands. And then he'd been told of the assassination attempt on Miss Shakov's life. A lone assassin masqueraded as one of this ship's crew and attempted to kill her, but failed. They also told that they retreated into this nebula to get away from an encroaching E.D.A. fleet.

"Corporal, get back to the shuttle and contact the Dauntless, tell them we have located the late Prime Minister's daughter, and inform them that this ship is not hostile," he ordered one of his troopers. The man saluted and went to do as ordered. _Boy, I'm going to have to file one _hell _of a report on this._

"So if what you're telling me is true," he said, turning back to the old woman who'd identified herself as the Captain of this ship. "Then, there is an E.D.A. fleet currently outside this nebula?"

"Yes, there is," the old woman replied. "Once they started to pursue us again, we decided to take cover in the nebula, and hoped they wouldn't follow."

"Damn," he muttered. "So, who are you guys, really?"

"We're pirates," the old woman replied. "And we hail from the dual system of Mejale/Tarak."

"Pirates, eh?" he said, slinging his rifle over his shoulder. "Looks like you're going to have to have a talk with the Admiral, he is on board the Dauntless. We'll radio over to get clearance for you."

"Good, I'd like to meet this Admiral of yours," the old woman replied.

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Daniel Harwell at on the edge of the operating table as the long-haired doctor treated his wound. He didn't very much like the feeling of being shot, especially from some woman wielding a heavy automatic weapon. From her looks, he didn't think she could even hold the weapon properly, let alone fire it and remain standing. But looks were deceiving, they always were. He glanced over to where the upper half of his body armor suit lay, along with his weapons and equipment, on a table a fair distance away from him.

The woman in question was also in the infirmary, but not for the same reasons as him. She stood there, intently watching him, her holster unsnapped and her hand near her pistol, ready to sue it at a moment's notice. There was really no huge need for that, for he wasn't going to try anything. He probably would receive enough flak from the rest of his unit, being the only one captured, and by a woman no less. He did not want to die a pointless death, either.

"You still don't get it, do you?" he asked the dark-haired woman.

"Don't get what?" she replied, in a not too friendly tone.

"Don't get the fact that we're technically on the same side," he replied.

"Yeah," she replied sarcastically. "Like I want to believe that from someone who attacked us first, without so much as a warning."

"Well, what do you expect?" he countered. "An unknown ship just comes waltzing in without so much as a warning. Also, it's an unknown, possible hostile. What do you expect from a combat fleet that's been on edge ever since their last defeat?"

"So, just because you were defeated, you guys decided to take out your aggression on us?" she asked, her voice still not very friendly.

"That's not entirely it," he replied, locking his gaze with hers. "It's mission security, we don't want you guys revealing the location of our fleet to the enemy."

"There, finished," the doctor said, interrupting their spirited conversation. "Luckily, most of the bullets didn't penetrate, and the ones that did only grazed you. As it stands, you have a couple of cuts and some bruises."

Just then, someone walked through the entrance of the infirmary. It was a young man with medium-length blonde hair. The soldier he recognized as Private Rawlins saluted and then spoke up. "Are you alright, sir?"

"Yes, I'm fine, Private," he replied as he got up off the operating table.

"Sir, we just got the order, we're going to head back to the Dauntless," Rawlins said.

"Alright," he replied. "Let me get my gear, and I'll be in the hangar in a few minutes."

"Alright, sir," Rawlins said, then left his sight.

Daniel walked over to his gear, and started to put it back on. Once he was finished with gauntlets of his suit, he picked up his weapons and helmet, and started to walk out the door. Before he did that, he looked over at where the woman was standing.

"It's been nice 'chatting' with you," he said as way of parting shot before he exited the infirmary, not allowing her the time to respond.

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After being dismissed, Meia was being escorted around by a member of Aidan's team. She was dismissed when Aidan's commanding officer wanted to speak with him privately. She had no problem with that, as what they were going to talk about most likely didn't concern her. Aidan had already informed his commander of the events after the Artemis and up to being caught by the E.D.A.

Julia Marks, the woman that she was currently following, was not much taller than her, but had a slightly muscular build. Her dark blond hair was kept short, most likely by preference. Since they have not and currently could not locate the Nirvana, she would be staying on this for a while. Personally, she didn't all that comfortable, as this was an unfamiliar ship, and she know no one, except Aidan.

"This is where you'll be bunking for the time being," Julia said as they stopped in front of a door.

"Okay," was her only reply.

"There's a fresh uniform in one of the lockers," Julia said. "As you don't want to stand out too much on this ship."

"Makes sense," she replied.

"Well, I've got to get back to my duties," Julia said. "Later."

"Alright," she replied and then walked into the room.

_I need a shower._ That thought was on her mind for a while now. She didn't like the smell of that jungle she'd crashed on, and she wanted to get the smell of that place off of her mind.

She took off the accessory that her mother had given her, as well as her laser ring, and put them into a drawer next to one of the bunks. She then proceeded to take off her pilot suit. As soon as she stepped out of that, she tossed it onto the bunk. She grabbed a towel and headed for the shower. She stepped inside and drew the door shut.

She pressed the stud that would activate the hot water. A second later, jets of hot, but not scalding, water sprayed all over her nude form. The warm water felt good on her bare skin, but there was still something that was bothering her. It was that conversation between Aidan and that person he'd labeled traitor.

_Did Aidan really kill an innocent woman and child?_ That was the most nagging and disturbing thought that had been bugging her. It seemed that the only way for it to be resolved was to ask him about it. The only problem was, when would be the right time to ask him? She decided she was going to ask him, so she could hopefully get it off her mind. She let the spraying water to wash away all of her other worries.

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There will be a conversation between and Aidan and Meia concerning that mission in the next chapter. Also, the next chapter is an add-on, as it is not present in the original version of the story.


	23. Chapter Twenty Two: Interlude, Part Two

Disclaimer: I'm sick and tired of putting this up here, but if I don't, somebody is going to want to sue me, so here it is. Oh, and you know what it is.

Author's Note: This is an add-in chapter, meant to fill in some spaces and answer a few questions.

**Vandread: The Unknown Soldier (Revised)**

**Chapter Twenty-Two: Interlude, Part Two**

_Location: Meia's Temporary Quarters, S.D.S Whirlwind._

Fitting herself into the uniform that was provided her, Meia made sure that everything fit and was comfortable as could possibly be. It was a standard field uniform, which was dark blue in color with black trim. It was devoid of any rank insignia or pins, due to the fact that she was not part of this military. The only reason she was wearing the uniform is so she wouldn't draw too much attention to herself. The last thing she wanted was to the center of attention on this warship.

As per procedure on this ship, she was limited to exactly where she could go. She probably not allowed to step foot on the bridge, or any other place where non-military personnel were not allowed. The places she could go were the rec room, the gymnasium, and the mess hall. Otherwise, she'd have to stay in her quarters. She really had no desire to be confined in one room for any lengthy period of time, so she'd go out for a little walk.

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"Hey, Mr. Alien!" Dita shouted as she ran down the corridor to catch up with perhaps her favorite person in the universe.

"What do you want now?" Hibiki responded as he turned to face her.

"Well," Dita said, blushing, glancing down then back up. "I was wondering when you'd have time to keep your promise."

Hibiki felt his cheeks start to burn with embarrassment. "I don't think now's really the time to be thinking about that."

"Why not?" Dita replied.

"Because…" he trailed off, not sure how to respond.

"Yes?" she replied, leaning in slightly to better hear his answer.

"Because, of the situation we're in," he replied. "We could be attacked at any time."

"Awww… you're no fun," Dita said, disappointment in her voice.

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Maria stood there, listening, as well as watching the exchange between Dita and Hibiki. Was it really this bad between the two planets they come from? Had they gotten so far from each other that the people of Tarak and Mejale considered each other enemies? This was completely different from the society she had grown up in. Still, their little conversation amused her. As soon as Dita was out of sight, she walked over to Hibiki.

"You know, you two make a cute couple," she said, trying to get a response out of him. It apparently worked.

"That's none of your damn business!" he fairly shouted, blushing once again.

Laughing lightly, she teased him once more. "None of my business? I suppose you're right. But I didn't hear you deny it, so it must be true."

"Just shut up!" he replied, obviously getting angry.

"Okay, but you should keep your promise to her," she said as way of parting shot, before walking away from him.

"That's none of your business either!" he replied, then said something to himself. "Sheesh, what's with women, can't keep their damn noses out of other people's business."

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Ducking under a round kick that was aimed for his head, Aidan narrowly avoided taking the headache inducing blow. Even though he was wearing a padded sparring helmet, the blow still would've hurt. He wasn't going to let his opponent get the better of him, even though she already had the advantage, in terms of skill. After all, Ria DeMarco was his team's best close-combat specialist, and chances are, he'd need all he could to beat her.

When she sparred, she loved to use a series of kicks to throw off her opponent, allowing her to get in close and finish off her target. He refused to fall for her ruse, instead keeping a fair distance away and playing it defensively. This was beginning to slightly aggravate her, and her attack came in a little more fiercely. He had to block more and more attacks, this time becoming varied enough that he realized she changed her attack strategy. He's need to make his move now, while he still could.

He moved forward, intent on subduing her. He grabbed her outstretched arm and moved to pull it behind her back, intending to trip her from behind, to drive her to her knees and pin her to the mat. She didn't want to go along with his plan. Almost before he knew it, he felt himself fly into the air and hit the mat hard. She had somehow managed to get out of his grip and used her momentum to flip him onto his back. It was then she pinned him to the mat.

"Not as good as you thought you were," Ria said, sweat dripping from her face.

"Apparently so," he replied as he tapped the mat in a signal of defeat. She got up off him and allowed him to get to his feet.

He took his helmet off and shook the sweat from his head. He stepped off the mat and walked over to where a small group of soldiers were standing, watching the little sparring match. Once he got closer, he noticed two of them were teammates of his. Once he was nearby, the one named Hawkins spoke up.

"It looks like you owe me, Mike."

Michael Deveroux, the man he was talking to, grumbled and handed over some money to Hawkins.

"Betting against me, Hawkins?" he asked, letting a little humor into his voice.

"Come on, boss," Hawkins said, calling Aidan by what was Hawkins' nickname for him. "It was just common sense, I knew she'd whip your ass."

"Uh-huh," was Aidan's only reply. He had gotten used to Hawkins' brand of humor, and knew he meant no offense.

He removed his sparring gear and tossed it onto a locker. He then grabbed a towel and wiped the sweat from his face. Briefly the thought about his former commander popped into his mind. He banished it as quickly as it came, forcing out of his mind for the moment. That was something that would only get him frustrated, that traitorous coward.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed someone in a uniform walk over to him. He quickly noticed that it was Meia. She looked different in that uniform, almost like a soldier. That thought brought a faint smile to his lips. That got a slight quizzical look on her face once she noticed it.

"What's so funny?" she asked.

"Oh, nothing," he replied. "You just look like a soldier when you where that."

"It's not like I had a choice," she countered.

"Yeah, yeah," he replied, then sobered up slightly. "You want something?"

"Well, yes," she said. "If you don't mind, I'd like to talk to you about something."

"Sure," he replied. "But let me get cleaned up first."

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Meia stood there, leaning against the corridor wall, waiting for Aidan to get finished. It wasn't long before he walked over to her, dressed in a uniform similar to hers. The only differences were the fact that his uniform had rank pins on the collar and shoulders. Once he was right next to her, he spoke up.

"So, what is it that you wanted to talk about?" he asked.

"Well," she replied, not exactly sure how to continue. She mentally composed herself and continued. "It was about that conversation you had with that man when they captured us."

His face suddenly got a serious look to it, a look that she had seen only a few times. He didn't speak for a minute, leaving it at an uncomfortable silence. He then finally spoke up. "Well, after hearing all that, I guess you deserve an explanation. But not here, in my quarters."

"Okay," she replied.

"Follow me," he said as he started to walk down the corridor. While they walked down the corridor, and when they entered the lift, there were only the sounds of other crewman as they went about their duties. Aidan had remained quiet the entire time, and when they reached his quarters, he typed in a code, then stepped aside, allowing her to step into the room as soon as the door opened. He was seconds after her, letting the door slide shut behind him.

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_Man, how am I going to explain this?_ That thought ran through Aidan's head as she asked him about that. Of the things he did not want to remember, this was among the top. He offered her a seat in the chair that belonged to the rather Spartan desk. She accepted, taking a seat. All the while, he was composing the events in his head, even though they brought back the pain he had felt that very day.

"Well," he said. "How do I put this?"

"If it's too painful for you, you don't have to," Meia said after a moment's silence.

"It's not that," he lied, but hiding it the best he could. "Besides, I think you deserve an explanation."

"I was inserted twenty-five meters into the forest where my intended target was located," he started off. "The professor that was to be my target was currently in his vacation house in the middle of the forest. He had supposedly been speaking out against the government and granting aid to the E.D.A. soldiers. I was inserted 'clean', and moved on and off for two and half days until I was in view of the house."

"Sorry to interrupt," she said. "But what did you mean by 'clean'."

"It's a military term that means that I was sent in with no identification, or anything that could identify me or my affiliation to the Solaris Defense Force, in case I was either killed or caught," he replied. "As this was a black op, the government did not want them to trace it back to the SDF. My objective was to eliminate the professor, and any and all witnesses, including noncombatants."

"As soon as I had reached the house, I located a few patrols outside of it," he continued. "After I eliminated that potential threat, I went to enter the house. Before I was able to, I was spotted by a soldier that I'd failed to notice. Seeing as how I only a had a short time to react, I killed the soldier and a few others as I made my way further into the house. I took a couple of guards on the way up, until I made it to the man's office."

"After forcing my way in, I immediately noticed something that distracted me for a few seconds. His wife and six-year old daughter were in the room as well. I was distracted long enough that he pulled out a gun, and as I attempted to fire, shot me in the arm. Using a different gun, I shot him several times until he fell over, dead. After that, I walked over to the woman and her child. I'll never forget the look in that little girl's eyes, before I… I…"

He buried his face in his hands and falling to his knees, not wanting to go any further. "I never wanted to… I never wanted to kill them, but I couldn't stop, I… pulled the trigger. I killed them."

Meia got up from where she sat, and leaned down and embraced him in a hug that was meant to comfort him. "It's going to be alright."

"Their blood is on my hands," he said after a moment, breaking the silence.

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That took longer than I thought it would, but I finally got it up


	24. Chapter Twenty Three: Planning, Part One

Disclaimer: You all know what this is for.

**Vandread: The Unknown Soldier (Revised)**

**Chapter Twenty-Three: Planning, Part One**

_Location: Mejalian Pirate Shuttle, Currently on Approach Vector to S.D.S. Dauntless._

Hibiki sat on the fold-out bunk in the shuttle, thinking over the events of the past few days. Things had turned from bad to worse, all because of that damned device that allowed the enemy fleet to overpower them so easily. As a result, they were forced to retreat to this godforsaken nebula. Then, when things couldn't have been any worse, a group of soldiers boarded the Nirvana under the guise of a damaged shuttlecraft. They had managed to take over the bridge, but through an unlikely turn of events, they turned out to be supposed allies.

What had really pissed him off was the fact that when he tried to jump one of the soldiers, he was thrown roughly to the ground, and shot no less than three times. Of course, he figured out the shots weren't lethal, but they still hurt like hell. He couldn't even take on a single soldier and beat him, but was beaten himself. He was knocked out of his thoughts by a sudden outburst by none other than Dita. As a result, he nearly fell off of the bunk.

"Wow, would you take a look at that!" Dita said in amazement over the commlink. She was currently one of the two Dread pilots escorting the shuttle towards the SDF Flagship.

He looked out of the front view screen of the shuttle, several hundred meters away, was the command ship of the entire Solaris Fleet. What he saw was a massive warship, at least twice as big as the Nirvana, and far more bulky. From where they were, he could still see several gun and other weapon ports adorning the slab sides of the hull of the large warship. He was awed and somewhat intimidated by its threatening appearance. Some of the weapon turrets moved and locked onto the shuttle. He knew that if they wanted to, they could reduce this small shuttlecraft to atomized particles in a second.

"That is the Invincible Class Battle Cruiser, Dauntless," Maria said, noticing that Hibiki had his sight on the warship.

"Looks impressive," he admitted.

"I have incoming!" Barnette, the other escort pilot, announced. "Two fighters."

"This is Falcon Flight One," came a male voice, followed a second later by the image of a helmeted pilot on the shuttle's comm view screen. "We are here to escort you to the Dauntless, please acknowledge."

"We acknowledge, lead the way," BC said to the pilot of the forward-swept winged fighter.

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Aidan was yet again in his commander's office, going over what they had managed to capture from the E.D.A. destroyer, Avenger.

"So, what of the captured ship, the Avenger I think it was called, sir?" Aidan asked his commander.

"The Captain of this ship has already sent over repair teams and a prize crew," Colonel Albrecht replied. "We will stay in orbit until she is ready to go."

"Good," he said, one less ship for the E.D.A. "Prisoners?"

"We captured most of the crew alive, but there is too many to be held in the brig. So, we're keeping all the officers and marooning the rest on that jungle planet," Albrecht responded. "But you're a little off subject, Captain. You left the late PM's daughter on board a pirate ship?"

"I assure you she's fine, sir," he replied. "Those pirates are, different."

"How so?" Albrecht asked.

"They have a strong sense of loyalty, something usually lacking in most pirates," he replied. "And besides, the E.D.A. attacked them as well, and killed a few of them, they are taking it kind of personally."

"Well, here's the list of what we acquired, in prisoners, supplies, vehicles, and weapons," Albrecht said, handing Aidan an electronic data pad.

Aidan glanced over the list, first at the prisoners. Much to his dissatisfaction, the name of his former commander was not among the list of prisoners. He really wanted to watch that traitor die, but he didn't bother to bring it up with his current commander. That was something he didn't want many people to know about. He had only told Meia, because she had overheard that one conversation.

He then scanned over the list of the captured vehicles and equipment. Several fighters, some dropships and shuttles, several stockpiles of firearms and ammunition. The usual stuff, although one thing that didn't show up bothered him. Where was Meia's fighter, he had known for a fact that it was brought on board that ship. Why wasn't it listed?

"One question, sir," he said as he handed the data pad back to his commander. "Where's the Dread? It should have been listed."

"Dread? What is that?" Albrecht asked.

"The Mejalian fighter craft," he replied. "When the E.D.A. captured us, they took it as well."

"Well, I'm sure it would have been listed if it was there," Albrecht said. "Something as big as a fighter is hard to miss, unless…"

"Unless they had it moved off ship before you attacked," Aidan finished._ That would explain why that bastard is missing as well. A coward to the end, always running away if things get too dicey for him. Typical. If I ever find him…_

"Captain?" Albrecht said, knocking him back to reality. "Anything wrong?"

"No, sir," he replied, quickly regaining his senses. "Just thinking."

"That'll be all for now, Captain," Albrecht said. "Dismissed."

Aidan got up out of his seat, saluted his commander, and turned to leave.

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Admiral Alexander Graff sat the desk in his office, listening to the old woman that was seated across from him. With her, there was a tan silver-haired woman, some short kid, and Maria Shakov. He was relieved that she was safe, but was also remorseful about the loss of the Artemis and her entire crew. Captain Hector Cranston was one of the best Captains he had under his command, and now he was dead. Well, at least he went down with his ship, what any good captain would do.

As it stood, only two survivors made it off the Artemis alive. Miss Shakov, and a Special Forces soldier that was acting as her bodyguard. He'd also just learned that the same soldier foiled an assassination attempt on Miss Shakov's life, and participated in a battle with the E.D.A. He also went missing, along with their own squadron leader just before they were forced to take shelter in the nebula. What caught his interest was the fact that these were the very people who defeated the Harvesters, and sent them packing.

"We were forced into this nebula after taking heavy losses in an earlier engagement with the E.D.A. forces," he said after a long pause. "They haven't located us yet, but that could change, as I assume they are nearby?"

"Yes," the old woman replied. "We were forced to take shelter here for similar reasons."

"They used a strange weapon on us, I believe it was called the Paksis Nullification Device," the silver-haired woman said after a few seconds.

"The P.N. Device?" he asked incredulously. "You know about it?"

"Yes," the old woman said. "Captain Aidan Mercer told us."

"Mercer?" he queried. "Was he the Special Forces soldier?"

"Yes, he was," the silver-haired woman said.

"Well, I'll have to remember that," he said. "Did he say what particular detachment he was with?"

"No, I don't remember him stating it," the old woman said.

"Hmm…" was his only reply.

"Let it be known that he also helped us on more than one occasion, and was wounded in assisting us in the battle with the E.D.A.," the old woman said.

"Is that so," he replied. "And where is he now?"

"He last was seen going out on an unauthorized recon mission along with our squadron leader," the silver-haired woman said. "Neither of them have reported back since."

He sat there for several long seconds, thinking all of the recent events and information in his mind. After that, he came to a decision. "Given the circumstances, we will assist you in any way we can. I will also need all data concerning you combat capabilities and force composition. If we are to formulate a plan of action."

"Seeing as how our original plan was to find a way to link up with you and assist in dealing with your enemy," the old woman. "That sounds acceptable."

"Well, you know how that old saying goes," he said with a slight grin. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend."

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Meia still felt uncomfortable, being on this ship. First of all, she only knew one person, and even then this place made her feel like an outsider. An outsider she was, but the other reason was that the majority of this ship's crew were men. She calmed herself down, knowing that being nervous or uncomfortable would not help her.

Another thing that was on her mind was the recent conversation with Aidan. Killing an innocent mother and child was almost inconceivable to her. And he ended up killing them for the wrong reasons? All because of a lie, why was this universe so messed up? It was because of people like that traitor that tricked Aidan. He told that he didn't want to kill them, and she believed him. She would rather have died than kill them, if she would've been in his place.

After he had told her, she felt several emotions, each one seeming to be at conflict within her. She felt an intense anger, mostly directed at the person who'd ordered Aidan to commit such an act. Next there was shock, mostly at the fact that the very person was talking to her had taken innocent life, even though he didn't want to. Last, there was sympathy, for both the mother and child and for the person that killed them. She had felt emotions that she'd hardly ever felt before.

_What was that feeling that overcame me?_ she silently asked herself, referring to when she tried to comfort Aidan, an act that she apparently did purely on impulse, without even thinking on it. _Do I actually feel something for him, that man? Do I actually…_

That particular thought never completed itself as she saw the very she was thinking about walk towards her. His face showed almost no emotion, which he meant he had something serious on his mind. He stopped right in front of her. She mentally composed herself.

"Something wrong?" she asked. "Is it about the other day?"

"No," he replied. "It's something else."

"What is it?" she asked again.

"After speaking with the Colonel, and reviewing the equipment acquired from the captured ship," he said. "There was no sign of your Dread on board."

"What?" she said in disbelief. "Where is it?"

"That's just it," he replied. "We don't know where it is. Evidence proves that one shuttlecraft was missing and a number of personnel were transferred off the ship two days before it was captured."

"Damn," she muttered. It briefly amused her that she was beginning to sound a little more like Hibiki, like the Captain had said. As quickly as that thought came into her mind, it went, then came back seriousness. "We have to get it back."

Just then, a lone crewman came jogging up to where they were standing. He panted for a few seconds, to catch his breath, then saluted Aidan. "Capta- err, Major," the crewman said, correcting himself.

"Yes," Aidan replied as he returned the salute. "What is it?"

"The Colonel wants you both to report to the briefing room as soon as possible," the man said. "He said it was urgent."

"I understand," Aidan replied. "Thank you for letting me know."

Meia picked up the pace as soon as Aidan started moving. He had said the both of them. What was this Colonel planning?

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Chapter 23 finished. Expect the further updates of both Vandread fanfics so


	25. Chapter Twenty Four: Planning, Part Two

Disclaimer: I do not own Vandread.

**Vandread: The Unknown Soldier (Revised)**

**Chapter Twenty-Four: Planning, Part Two**

_Location: Tactical Briefing Room, S.D.S Whirlwind_

"Take a seat," Colonel Albrecht without preamble upon seeing the two of them enter the room.

From the look on his face, Aidan could tell that Colonel was strictly business, so he took an open seat next to Nick Hawkins. Meia, who was right behind him, took the seat that was next to him. He noticed that his entire team was at the meeting as well as another one that was in the same detachment. He believed it was Lieutenant Kemp's Team. From the whole outlook of it, he immediately knew they were going to be briefed on a new operation. He had a vague idea on what this operation would have to do with Meia, and that was because it had something to do with her fighter.

"Good, now that everyone is here, we can get down to business," Albrecht began. "As of oh-one twenty-six hours last night, we have uncovered a critical piece of information from the captured destroyer. The exact location and layout of a top-secret weapons testing facility."

The Colonel brought up a satellite image of the location. Nothing of any huge significance was noticeable from the satellite photo. Looking intently, he noticed the faint outline of a boundary line, where the facility was located. It was well-hidden, that was for sure, as he could hardly make out any distinct semblance of their supposed target. He listened intently to the briefing.

"This is the area where the facility is supposed to be," Albrecht said, using a stylus pen to circle the exact location of the facility. He circled the slightly off-center, section of the photo. "The facility is well-camouflaged. It is masked from standard satellite and orbital scans. As such, the only way to spot it is on the ground or in the air."

"So, you want us to go in a destroy the place, sir?" one of the soldiers from Kemp's team interjected.

"I was getting to that," Albrecht answered, giving the soldier a stern stare. "It is the there that they are developing new weapons for use against us. Another interesting note is that the captured Mejalian fighter is also to have been reported to have transported there."

That got Aidan's attention, but Meia's seemed to be intently focused on what he'd say next.

"Are you sure about that, sir?" Aidan asked.

"Yes, I am certain of the intel," Albrecht replied. "As this information was acquired from the Avenger's former captain, as well as encrypted files that our techs had managed to crack."

"The mission is as follows: Teams Five and Six will be inserted covertly via HALO jump, about twenty-five kilometers from the target," Albrecht began laying down the groundwork of the mission.

"What is a HALO jump?" Meia asked Aidan in a whisper.

"High-Altitude Low Opening," he answered in a similar voice. "You jump out of an aircraft at very high altitude, in order to maintain stealth. It's kinda complicated to explain."

"Oh," came her reply.

"Your primary objectives are as follows: the first is to download any and all relevant data concerning any top secret weapons, programs, etc. from their databanks. Second is the complete destruction of the facility, so it cannot be used again. Your secondary objective is the recovery of the stolen fighter."

After he said that, Meia started to get up and protest. She was stopped by Aidan placing a hand on her shoulder and shaking his head. She reluctantly sat back down.

"The report indicates the facility has a reinforced concrete wall about eight meters in height. And what appears to be a sizeable garrison force," Albrecht added. "As such, you will be using powered armor, but nothing over standard size, as the weight limitations of the shuttlecraft won't permit it. Captain Aidan Mercer?"

Aidan stood up. "Yes, sir?"

"I am placing you in overall command of both teams for this operation," Albrecht said. "Do you think you are up to it?"

"Yes, sir," Aidan replied, although he didn't feel it.

"You have two weeks to prepare for this operation," Albrecht announced. "That is how long it will take to enact repairs for the Avenger. Then we will jump into the Solaris system, where we will detach your shuttle, and then jump out-system again. Once there, you will make a covert trip from you drop-off point until you reach the planet. Once there, you will be going in on a hard burn, to give the enemy the least amount of time to react to your presence. That is all for now. Dismissed!"

As Aidan got up to leave, Albrecht called his name.

"Yes, Colonel?" he replied as he stopped in his tracks.

"I'd like to speak with you for a moment."

He nodded and walked up to where the Colonel stood. "Yes?"

As soon as everyone had exited the room, Albrecht spoke. "Captain, do you know why I chose you to command the operation?"

"No, I don't, sir," he replied.

"Because your team has the best record among this detachment," Albrecht said. "And, besides a few 'incidents', you are the most competent leader among them, as well."

"Incidents?" he replied. "I'm not totally sure what you mean, sir."

"You don't have to worry, Captain," Albrecht said. "I know about your first solo mission."

"Oh," he replied, shocked, but not showing it. _Just how many people know about it?_

"Although I don't hold it against it you," Albrecht said. "That traitor was the one who made you do it."

"I didn't want to do it, sir," was his only reply. "I knew there was something suspicious about him, but I realized it too late."

"Don't dwell on it," Albrecht said. "Also, intel reports that he was on the ship that took that fighter, so he may currently be at that facility."

"Why are you telling me this, sir?" he asked.

"Just giving you a head's up," Albrecht replied. "Although you may not go hunting for him, the mission comes first. But, if you run across him while carrying out your mission…"

"I get your meaning, sir," he replied. "But, on a different note, why did you allow Meia to sit in on the briefing?"

"Oh, that," Albrecht replied. "I thought it relevant for her to know, as she is the pilot of it. Also, you seem to trust her, so I saw no real reason not to."

"But why the recovery of it as one of the objectives?" he asked.

"As it is apparently connected to the Paksis Pragma, we cannot allow it to remain in enemy hands," Albrecht replied. "Because your team is going to have a temporary ninth member."

"What?" he replied, clearly surprised. "But, sir, she has little to no ground combat experience, nowhere near the level needed for this kind of operation."

"That is why you are going to use these two weeks to give her as much training as possible, primarily in team tactics, powered armor use, skydiving, and advanced weapons training."

"But two weeks is hardly enough time to-" he protested.

"I know, but she is the pilot, and the only one who can get it out of there, I don't think even you would know how to operate that type of machine," Albrecht said. "So, I guess you better get started. You are dismissed."

"Yes sir," he replied, and then walked out of the briefing room, contemplating on how exactly he was going to accomplish all of this, starting with telling the news to Meia.

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Magno Vivan was amazed at how fast this Admiral came up with a plan of action. From the time she had left the Dauntless, to not too long after she got back to the Nirvana. In total, it took him less than five hours to get a solid plan to her. He must have pushed all of his commanders and tactical staff hard to get it that fast.

The plan calls for the entire fleet, including the Nirvana, to make a two week trip to the system that contained their home planet. Once there, they would engage the enemy fleet, and take back the system as well as the planet. As intercepted comm traffic indicated that the task force that was pursuing her ship had just received orders to return to Solaris for repair and refit. Total travel time would take approximately two weeks.

_Finally, it's about time we end this…_

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Having nothing else to do while Aidan and his commander talked, Meia was just standing outside the briefing room, waiting for them to finish. She was relieved when they had managed to locate her Dread. She was also worried for the same reason, as she knew they probably going to take it apart and examine it. She was also a little miffed about the fact that they would be willing to consider the recovery of the Dread only second priority. It also made sense, she knew, because it wasn't originally one of theirs anyways, but still…

The door slid open to reveal Aidan, with a look on his face that made her a little concerned. She turned her full attention to him and asked him. "So, what did he say?"

"He basically gave me the reason why he chose me to command the operation, and…" he said, trailing off at the end.

"And, what?" she asked again, sensing that there was something more.

"There is one particular stipulation," he said.

"And what would that be?" she asked.

"Let me be the first to welcome you to Team Five of the 4th Special Forces Detachment," he replied with a slight smirk.

"What did you say?" she asked again, not completely getting the meaning.

"As I said, you are now a member of my team, the Death's Grenadiers," he replied. "Of course, it's only temporary."

"What!" she nearly shouted, drawing the looks of a couple of passing crewmen. "But I know almost nothing about that kind of warfare."

"That's what the next few weeks are for," he replied. "You are to begin training today, and I'm the one in charge of it."

"And the reason behind this?" she asked, letting a little indignation creep into her voice.

"The reason is so that you can recover your Dread," he replied. "None of my men know how to pilot it, and there's no other way for us to recover it. And besides, you're it's pilot, you're the only one here who knows how to fly it."

"Alright," she said, giving in. "If there's no other way, I guess I'll have to. When does this 'training' begin?"

"A few hours from now," he replied. "Oh, and good to have you on board, Private."

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Captain Gunter Argust wasn't a happy man, if fact, he was downright pissed. He wouldn't be able to hunt down those heretics like the dogs they were. He had just received direct orders to return to Solaris for repair and refit, as well as bolster the home guard defenses against a possible enemy attack. He knew the order was sound, but still, he was mad anyway.

"Inform the rest of the task force," he said, anger still in his voice. "We are to begin preparations to return to Solaris."

"Yes sir," the commtech replied, then started to relay the message.

"Begin charging the jump drives, and plot in the appropriate coordinates," he ordered the helmsman. "Let me know when the drives are charged, I'll be in my quarters."

_I promise, I will come back to wipe every last trace of you from this universe, you heretic scum._

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I should be able to get the next chapter up within the week.


	26. Chapter Twenty Five: Preparation

Disclaimer: As I said before, I don not own Vandread. It is the property of Gonzo.

**Vandread: The Unknown Soldier (Revised)**

**Chapter Twenty-Five: Preparation**

_Location: Briefing Room, Nirvana_

Jura, having been in command in Meia's absence, was just about to go over the plan with Hibiki, Barnette, Dita, and all of the Dread pilots who were still capable of fighting. She wished she didn't have to do this, but this was her job. She was second in command of the Dread Teams, and it fell on her to lead them. She would do it, because there was no other choice. She still wished Meia was here, because she would have a better idea of what to do, how to explain this. But still, she was currently in command, and it was her responsibility. She took a breath and started to explain.

"Alright, everyone," she began. "The plan they sent to us is rather straightforward. Once we arrive in their home system after a two week trip, the main fleet will engage the defenders, while we have a more specialized task. Our objective is the destruction on the battle cruiser named the Indomitable. That's the ship that was equipped with that device, I believe they call it the Paksis Nullification Device."

Everyone knew what that device was, and what it was capable of doing.

"While the main fleet is engaged, we will punch through their defensive line and destroy, or that the very least, cripple this battle cruiser," she said, bringing up a formation on the main screen. "We will run simulations, so everyone, report to the simulators."

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_A week later…_

Meia didn't like this at all. For the last several minutes, she was primarily avoiding laser fire. As this simulation room was a maze of winding corridors, narrow passage ways, and almost no open space, it made it a difficult environment for a gunfight. It was almost like fighting inside of a building. Her opponent for this exercise was using his tactical knowledge and combat training to basically keep her in one position. After all, her opponent was an elite soldier with vastly more training than she'd ever wish to receive for this kind of combat.

She was currently wearing a specialized sensor suit. It was designed primarily for combat training. The suit had a series of sensors interwoven into it, and whenever it took a hit from a special laser rifle, it would send a minor, electrical shock to the wearer, letting them know they got hit. The helmet that she wore also had a similar set of sensors installed. She'd already got hit in the left leg, and she didn't like the shock that came with it. Luckily it only grazed her, or it would have felt worse.

She was behind the cover of one of the many corners, making sure he didn't manage to sneak up on her. She glanced over the corner, and noticed the faceless mask of her opponent slowly making his way towards her. Tightening the grip on her laser rifle, she caught her breath and bolted out from her cover…

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Sitting in the chair facing Admiral Graff's desk, with her hands in her lap, Maria felt slightly uncomfortable. Whether it was the chair or the Admiral's presence, she did not know. He was currently looking a data pad, reading over the information contained on it. When he was finished, he set it down on his desk, then looked up at her.

"So, Miss Shakov, what is it that you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Well, if I could, I'd like to have permission to go back aboard the Nirvana," she replied.

He sat there for a few seconds, looking her straight in the eyes. "Out of the question."

"Why not?" she asked, keeping her irritation from her voice.

"Because, your safety is of the utmost importance," he replied coolly. "So, you will remain on this ship."

"If I may say so," she said. "Since this is the fleet's flagship, it will be in the thick of the fighting, am I right? If that's the case, then it wouldn't be the safest place for me to be. And besides, I've gotten use to living over there, as I already have quarters there, and what few personal possessions I have are over there as well."

After several longs seconds passed by, the Admiral arrived at his answer. And from his tone of voice, she could tell it wasn't a decision he liked.

"Very well then," he said. "I'll arrange for a shuttle to transport you over there in an hour."

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Quickly pulling the trigger of her rifle, Meia snapped off several shots, forcing her opponent to dive back behind cover to avoid being hit. One hit his left arm, but not directly enough to stop him. She started to move closer, hoping to get him while he was currently pinned down. Holding her laser rifle at the ready, she crept closer. Before she could properly react, he bolted out from cover in a sideways roll, snapping off several shots.

Before she knew what hit her, several laser bolts connected with her suit. On hit her right arm, forcing her to release the grip on her rifle. The other shot hit her in the shoulder, causing her to lose her balance. She fell onto her side, and after a second tried to get back up. She heard a hollow thud as something tapped her helmet. She looked up only to stare down the barrel of her opponent's rifle. Knowing she had been beaten, she signaled her surrender.

Her opponent lowered his rifle and took off his helmet. Aidan, who was her opponent, then held out his hand, and helped pull her to her feet. He then ran a hand through his short hair, wiping the sweat from it. She took the opportunity to remove the helmet she was wearing.

"Good," he said. "You did better than most recruits would have done, which is saying something."

"You think so?" she replied, thinking she didn't do that good, and he was just trying to flatter her.

"Yes, and I'm being blunt," he replied. The last batch of recruits did so badly, it would've taken them years."

There was something about him, something that made her like him, and she couldn't exactly figure out what it was. Yet.

She followed him out of the training area, and into the debriefing room just outside it. Once there, he tossed his helmet and rifle onto a table. He reached down and opened what appeared to be a cooler, and grabbed a bottle of water out of it. He held it out in her direction. "Want one?"

She accepted the water and nodded her thanks. He grabbed one for himself, opened and took a swig.

"It won't be long now," he said after finishing his drink. "Before we make the jump into the Solaris system."

"If I may ask," she said after taking a drink. "How does a ship like this actually make a 'jump'?"

"I don't know the specifics," he replied. "But I do know that pretty much all SDF ships are equipped with specialized drives that allow them to tear a literal 'hole' in space. Doing this allows a ship to instantaneously transport from one location to another. The only problem is, it cannot do so for a short distance, like fifty light years at the most. The other thing is that the drives require a lot of energy to use, so they can't be used all that often."

A beeping noise cut off her reply. Aidan lifted up his wrist communicator and spoke into it. "Mercer here."

"Captain," came Albrecht's voice. "You are to report to the tactical briefing room in ten minutes."

"Understood," he replied, then shut it off. "Well, so much for a break."

"I guess so," she replied. "Besides, I've got to go familiarize myself with that combat armor I have to use."

"It's not as hard as it looks," he said as he made his way to the men's locker room.

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Aidan walked into the briefing room to see Colonel Albrecht and Lieutenant Kemp. They were currently looking at the holographic map display. Albrecht looked up as Aidan entered the room. He had barely enough time to take a quick shower and change before reporting in.

"Reporting as ordered, sir," he said upon entering.

"Drop the formalities," Albrecht said bluntly. "We are currently going over the terrain around the target facility."

"Alright," he replied as he walked up to the map display. It was the same map, but was three-dimensional, allowing for more detail. There was a large circle on the far off edge with the letters LZ, in the middle of it. Aidan knew this was their projected landing zone.

"Captain," Albrecht said. "There is a slight change in plans."

"What kind of change, sir?" he asked.

"Your team, as well as Kemp's, will deploy from the Avenger instead of the Whirlwind," Albrecht replied.

"Okay, but why?" he asked his commander.

"Because the Avenger is still broadcasting an E.D.A. IFF code," Albrecht answered. "And it also corresponds with a transmission we intercepted just a few hours ago. This message contains an order for all E.D.A. ships to return to our home system, to bolster it's defenses."

"Makes sense," he replied. "This will make it easier for the infiltration."

"We have also received a coded message from the Dauntless," Albrecht said. Apparently, that pirate ship your friend is from managed to locate them. They will proceed on a roundabout route through a nebula that leads them to our home system. In a week, we are finally going to take back our planet."

Kemp, who had been quiet the whole time Aidan was here, finally spoke up. "So, when do we make the transfer over to the Avenger, sir?"

"Tomorrow at fourteen hundred hours," Albrecht replied. "You are to select and prepare your gear for transport over to the Avenger. You will make the jump into the Solaris system two day before the assault will commence. Inform your teams of this. That is all. Dismissed!"

"Yes sir!" both men replied in unison, then turned to exit the room.

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Meia could feel the armored suit pressurize when she tapped the stud on the suit's left gauntlet. The armor felt slightly heavy, despite the fact that it was supposed to be one of the lightest available. This armor's official designation was Powered Armor: Light Scout Type, but the technician that was assisting her told it was nicknamed 'Falke' or 'Falcon'. What a peculiar name for something that was supposed to be used on the ground.

"Here," the young female tech named Alexa handed her the helmet. "Put this on."

"Alright," she replied. She took the helmet, and placed it on her head. After making sure it was a good fit, then, with a little help from the tech, interlocked the helmet with the armor.

"I'm going to power it up now," Alexa said, as she tapped away at her computer.

Meia nodded, and felt as well as heard a slight hum run throughout the suit as power brought it to life. It now felt somewhat lighter, and she could move it with little difficulty. The suit, which felt clumsy and unwieldy at first, just now felt like an extension of herself. First, she flexed her hands, then her arm. The suit responded almost as if it were a second skin.

"It's looks like you have a knack for this," Alexa said as she witnessed Meia move the suit.

"You think so?" she replied. Although one thought bothered her. She didn't feel like she could wear this suit for a prolonged period of time, especially during combat.

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It's seems the hangar was a place he was spending quite a deal of his time. Although Hibiki usually spent time in here, more recently he'd spent most of his spare time in the hangar where his partner was kept. He thought it might have something to do with anticipation. They were going to go into battle, very soon. Only less than a week until battle would commence. He was still smarting over the defeat he'd been handed in his first battle with the E.D.A.

_Well, not this time._ Now they had the power of an entire fleet to go up against their enemy. And they also were given something that he liked. They were given the express mission to take down the battle cruiser that had caused them so much trouble.

"Hey, Mr.Alien!" he heard Dita call.

"Yeah?" he replied. "What is it?"

"It's about lunchtime," she said. "Let's go get something to eat, okay?"

"Sure," he replied. _Why not? I need a break anyways._

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"What's with the muster call, Boss?" Hawkins said upon Aidan entering the room.

"Okay," he said. "First off, we're going to move over to the Avenger. Using the captured ship will allow us to bypass the enemy's defenses."

"Who came up with that idea?" Deveroux asked.

"I believe the Colonel did," he replied. "Okay, now let's go over equipment. Marks, you, Akida, Ria, and Meia will all be using the Falke Light Armor. The rest of us will be using the Soldat armor. From what he told me, Kemp's team will be equipped similarly. Weapons are mostly personal preference, but there are several things that are required, like explosives."

"Leave that to me," Hawkins said with a feral grin. Aidan had just recently that Hawkins had a brother who had died in an earlier battle.

"Ja, when do we make the transfer?" Steiner asked.

"Tomorrow at oh-fourteen hundred," he replied. "It's about time we'd paid them back."

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Not too much more. Sorry for not updating The Perfect Weapon yet. I have almost finished the first chapter, but this fic takes priority right now


	27. Chapter Twenty Six: Descent

Disclaimer: It's the same as before.

**Vandread: The Unknown Soldier (Revised)**

**Chapter Twenty-Six: Descent**

_Location: Armory, S.D.S Avenger._

With his legs locked firmly into the general purpose powered armor. It's official designation was Powered Armor: Standard, but was tagged Soldat by the soldiers that wore it. It's primary function was for general-use, so it was aptly named. His range of movement was limited, for the moment. His sensor bodysuit synced with the armor when it was locked into position and powered up. He checked the status of the automated medical system, and it was operating as it should. The last thing he wanted was to get wounded and the system not work.

He reached forward and placed his arms into the armored gloves of the suit, then, with help from the tech, locked the breastplate into position. Making sure it was sealed, the tech started to run diagnostics on it, making sure no piece would malfunction at the wrong time. After finishing, the tech gave Aidan a thumbs up, and powered up the armor. Picking up his helmet and cradling it in his left hand, he looked over the rest of his team, as well as that of Kemp's.

This was his first mission in which he had direct command of two teams, instead of one. An odd feeling swept over him. It felt like pride mixed with fear. Pride, because his commanding officer had trusted enough in his abilities to allow him this command, and fear, because it was the fact that the mission was going deep into enemy territory. Granted, he'd done that before, but something just didn't feel right about this mission. Mentally shaking off the thought, he turned and walked over to the rack where the weapons were located.

Hefting up a heavy rifle that he did not recognize, he wondered what type of weapon it was. It was a long, heavy rifle with the magazine receiver on the top of the rifle, instead of underneath. Once Hawkins came up to where he was standing, he asked him what this weapon was.

"I believe that is an MKII Gauss Rifle, boss," Hawkins replied.

"Gauss rifle?" he said.

"It's a relatively new weapon that uses a series of magnetic coils to launch a solid, thirteen millimeter 'spike' at hypersonic speeds," Hawkins said. "It's a good anti-armor weapon or sniper weapon. That baby could take off someone's head at better than five hundred meters. Too bad it only has an eight shot clip."

"Damn," he muttered. "Impressive."

He lifted up the weapon, which was quite heavy, despite the enhanced strength of his armor. Setting the weapon down off to his side, he picked up an SA5G Heavy Automatic Handgun. This gun was larger than any standard handgun in use. It was designed specifically for use with this type of powered armor. It was nicknamed, 'Hammer Fist' for it's high powered twelve millimeter rounds. Thing is, it only has eight shots. He loaded a clip, made sure the safety was on, then slipped it into the magnetic holster on his right hip.

Due to the gauss rifle's large size and weight, he'd have it stored in one of the several drop pods that would contain some of their gear, as well as rations and other necessities. Besides, from what Hawkins had said, the gauss rifle was primarily an anti-armor weapon, useful against opposing powered armor and obstacles like armored glass and walls. Using against a simple infantryman seemed a waste of ammo to him. Hence, that's why he was going in with a BR27 Battle Rifle. This was a rifle slightly larger than the standard Raptor, and it was equipped with an integrated pump-action grenade launcher.

After loading up his weapons, he looked over his team. All of them had their armor completely on except for Meia, which came as no surprise to him. After all, she wasn't trained to do this sort of thing, even though she would be jumping right into the middle of it. He had to make sure she didn't get her ass blown off before he got her to her Dread. This was definitely going to test her, probably to the extent of her abilities. He knew she would perform within the best of her abilities. She had no other option, no other choice.

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Meia had just finished locking the last part of her armor when a loud klaxon sounded throughout the ship. She had been told that was the signal for the Avenger to jump through hyperspace. Even though she steeled herself for what was to happen next, she couldn't have been full prepared for what was going to happen next. The universe seemed to expand around itself, and time seemed to slow to a crawl. The nameless lights and sound assaulted her senses. As quickly as it came, it went, and the universe snapped back into reality.

Taking a few steps back, she nearly stumbled over herself from disorientating effect of the jump. She started to feel sick to her stomach, which was not a good thing for her. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Aidan walk up to herm the sound of his armored boots echoing as they connected with the floor.

"Are you alright?" he asked her.

"Yeah… I'm fine," she replied, still breathing a little heavy from the effects of the jump. Due to the nauseating effects of the jump, and the fact that she wasn't completely used to the armor she was wearing, she stumbled once again. Before she could fall, an armored hand grasped her by the shoulder and kept her on her feet.

"Don't worry," he said, taking his hand off her shoulder. "It happened to me the first few times I experienced it. Usually the effects will where off in a few minutes."

"I'll be fine," she said, getting her senses straight.

"Alright then," he replied. "Once you're ready, move your gear aboard the shuttle. We'll be departing within the hour."

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The shuttlecraft, which was originally designed to ferry cargo from a ship to the surface of a planet, was devoid of anything it would have normally carried. Instead, it carried seventeen passengers whose sole purpose was to carry out a covert military operation. The shuttle's pilot was instructed to enter the atmosphere away from their intended target, and deploy it's cargo via HALO drop, sending them more than twenty kilometers from their target. From there, the two teams would traverse on ground for two days, getting within sight distance from the facility.

They would then infiltrate said facility, eliminate anyone who was a threat, and accomplish three objectives. First is the acquiring of all data concerning weapons and other secret programs. Second would the recovery of the stolen Dread fighter. The final objective was the complete destruction of the facility, so it cannot be used again. Because of somewhat sketchy intelligence, their current garrison strength was unknown. Upon the completion of all objectives, they would make their extraction via the same shuttle that transported them there, which is to be called in for extraction.

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Normally, a soldier would be nervous to some extent on his/her first operation. Such was the case for Meia, who was currently sitting in one of the uncomfortable seats lining the sides of the high speed shuttle. What she was feeling was a mix of fear and nervousness, combined with the stress-inducing speed of the shuttle, was almost pushing her to the point of being sick. Of course, she was used to high speeds, as her Dread, especially combined with the Vanguard, was the fastest in the entire Dread Squadron. But, not being at the helm, and the fact that the armor was confining did not help matters.

Memories started to manifest themselves, and she tried to force them out of her mind, but failed. She remembered being forced to leave her mother behind as she was dragged onto to the escape ship seconds before a massive explosion destroyed the living unit she was being taken away from. The limited space of the shuttle, as well as the confining helmet she was currently wearing, reminded her of the claustrophobic conditions onboard the escape ship, the sudden fear of being surrounded by several strangers, thinking about what just happened on the planet below. The fear of being alone.

She almost gave in to the urge to throw off her helmet, but managed to resist. Instead, she opened the faceplate, letting her to take a breath. Her breathing was heavy, and her muscles were shaking. Even through her armor, she felt someone lay an armored hand on her shoulder. Calming down a bit, she looked up to see an armored figure standing in front of her. The soldier raised his faceplate, and she immediately recognized that it was Aidan. He leaned in closer, but not too close, so she could hear him, and so nobody else could.

"You alright?" he asked, concern edging his voice.

"I… I'm fine," she managed to reply, grateful that the armor hid the fact that she was shaking.

"Okay," he said. "We'll be near the drop-off point in a few minutes. Remember, your parachute pack is set to deploy at a certain altitude. In the unlikely event anything should go wrong, grab hold of and pull the emergency release. That will deploy your emergency parachute, allowing you to safely land."

"Alright," she replied.

"Captain," the pilot's voice boomed throughout the cramped interior of the shuttle. "We are about to hit atmospheric interface, hold on."

"Understood," he replied.

Suddenly, the shuttle craft started to shake violently, and she briefly worried about Aidan, who was still standing up, and not strapped in. Fortunately for him, he had a firm grasp on the bar above his head, as well as his magnetic boots locked onto the deck of the shuttle, allowed him to firmly remain in place. The shaking stopped, which signaled that they had entered into the planet's upper atmosphere. It wouldn't be long before they would reach their destination.

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Riding out the atmospheric entry was a lot harder for Aidan than it looked. As he was standing, he couldn't afford to even move, or possibly be thrown if he made a wrong move. That and the fact that if let go of the bar he'd been grasping, he'd been thrown to the other side of the shuttle. He was grateful for the magnetic boots that were part of the armor, so he could keep his feet planted firmly to the deck.

After the shuttle made it through the atmosphere, the pilot notified him that they nearing the drop-off point. He acknowledged, then made sure both teams were ready to go. After he had each person check their equipment, he had the person next to them check it again. This process allowed something that might have been missed to be caught by the second person. After the equipment check, the person sitting near the back of the shuttle stood up.

"Alright!" the person shouted. "Line up!"

According to the plan both Aidan and Kemp had had come up with, Kemp's Team, which was tagged 'Ghost' for the operation, would jump first. His team, which would be known as 'Spectre' for the operation would be last to jump. Aidan himself, would be about fourth in line in his team to jump. That put him roughly in the middle, what bothered him was that Meia would be second to last to jump. Just before they departed for the shuttle, he had asked Damon, who was last in line, to keep an eye on her, just in case something went wrong.

As soon as his name was called, Aidan stepped up to the open hatch at the back of the shuttle. As soon as he heard the word 'go' he vaulted out of the back of the shuttle and into the dark, cloudy sky.

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When her name was called, Meia didn't feel very good. There was no good reason to jump out of a perfectly good shuttlecraft. But still, she had to step up to the exit of the craft. She looked out into the dark sky, wondering briefly how she got into all of this. She knew she had to do this, primarily to recover her Dread, which she did not in enemy hands. As soon as the drop master said 'go', she took a deep breath and jumped.

As she jumped from the craft, she heard the wind howl against her armor as she rapidly descended. The altimeter indicated that she was falling at a pretty high speed. She spread her arms and legs into the 'spread eagle' position that was dictated for this kind of jump. A cold sweat broke out on her face, and seemed like an eternity before she was snapped upright when her first drogue parachute deployed.

The first parachute was more or less just to slow her down to a reasonable, but still quite fast speed, and to put her into an upright position. Several seconds later, a dull explosive sound signaled that her first parachute had been detached. What little breath she had was sucked out of her as she began to freefall again. It felt like a painfully long time before her second parachute deployed, this time to help her land at a slow and safe speed.

The ground was a ghastly mix of black, gray and green, due to her helmet's night vision. As she hit the ground, she flexed slightly to keep from injuring herself. She just sat there on one knee for a few long seconds, letting the surge of adrenaline leave her body. She got her breath back, and opened her visor to take a breath of fresh air. She almost forgot to detach her parachute, which was now limply flailing in the wind.

She vowed to herself that she would never do that again, and would kill anyone who would try and make her.

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After Aidan hit the ground, he detached his parachute, and flexed into a deft roll to cushion his landing. He waited until he noticed that everyone was on the ground, then activated the mic built into his helmet's chin by speaking into it.

"Ghost One," he said, calling Kemp by his callsign. "Status report."

"Everyone down and accounted for, Spectre," came Kemp's reply.

"Good," he acknowledged. "Spectres, report in."

"This is Spectre Four," Julia Marks said. "Ready."

"Spectre Three, good to go," Steiner said.

"Spectre Five, ready," Akida reported.

"Spectre Seven, ready to move out on your order," Ria DeMarco reported.

"Spectre Two, ready to move," Damon reported.

"Spectre Eight, ready," Deveroux reported.

"Spectre Nine, ready," Meia said.

For a second, Aidan realized that Hawkins didn't report in. "Spectre Six, report."

A few seconds later Hawkins voice crackled through the commlink. "Spectre Six, ready to rock, although I'd like a have a few words with the ass that packed my parachute."

"Any problems?" Aidan said, partially ignoring his last comment.

"Not anymore," Hawkins replied. "I'm good to go."

"Alright, all teams," Aidan said into the mic. "Retrieve your equipment, and let's get moving. I want to be well away from here before dawn."

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"Sir, we have a possible intermittent contact," the radar tech at the Test Facility Beta reported.

"What kind of contact?" Colonel Odom asked.

"It was an aerial contact, and it slowed down enough about twenty kilometers from this facility," the tech reported. "It looked like it might have been a small craft, sir."

Now this was news, as unlikely as it was. A slight possibility that enemy recon or spec-ops troops had landed anywhere near this hidden facility. "I want a few teams dispatched to check the area around this complex. Send the 'turncoat' and his men out to check around."

"Yes sir," one of the techs responded.

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Getting close to finished. Not much longer.


	28. Chapter Twenty Seven: Breakthrough

Disclaimer: I don't own Vandread.

Author's Note: Just so you know, there is a little bit of graphic violence in this one.

**Vandread: The Unknown Soldier (Revised)**

**Chapter Twenty-Seven: Breakthrough**

_Location: Nebula, Edge of Solaris System_

Staring into the colorful expanse through the main armored view port of his ship, Admiral Graff was primarily on the thought of the upcoming battle. This would be the last push, if they did not break through this time, then there was no hope for victory. They would either be victorious or they would die trying. If he was going to die in the coming fight, he damn sure wanted to take several of the enemy with him. But he knew that the men and women under his command would pull through, because this was their home as well as his, and they wanted it to be free once more.

"Sir, we are about to enter the system," the primary sensor tech reported. "ETA: ten minutes."

"Understood," he responded, then switched his attention to the communications officer. "Notify the rest of the fleet. Tell them to get ready."

"Aye, sir," the comm tech replied.

He leaned back into his command chair, staring into the nebula, waiting for the coming conflict.

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"Captain, we just received the word from the Solaris command ship," Ezra reported. "They report that we are coming up on the edge of the nebula. They say to prepare for battle."

"Alright," Magno replied. "BC!"

"All Dread Teams!" BC said. "Prepare to scramble! We are going to engage as soon as we're given the order?"

"Roger that," came Jura's reply, as she was currently the Dread Team Leader.

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Like a swarm of massive, angry hornets, the entire remaining Solaris fleet, plus one, broke out of the nebula, and almost immediately showed up on the scanners of just about every enemy ship in range. Several of the enemy warships powered up their weapons and drives as soon as they had noticed the massive number of vessels entering their territory. From the look of it, this was going to be a very brutal fight.

One of those who'd been anticipating the arrival of the SDF Fleet was Gunter Argust. He was still sore about having been called back to Solaris, when he still had to hunt down and destroy Earth's most hated enemy. But this would do, the enemy with which they had been engaged with for the last few years, finally has the spine to show themselves. He would be the one to break their resolve and destroy any will to fight they had left in them.

"General quarters!" he bellowed. "Bring engines to full, bring weapons online!"

"General quarters! General quarters!" the message repeated over the intercom, informing everyone on board of what was about to happen.

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"Admiral, we have several contacts closing," the sensor tech reported, her voice calm despite the news she was delivering. "Their main line is moving to engage."

"Understood," Graff replied. "Gunnery officer, bring weapons to full, take aim at the vessel closest to our position."

"Forward laser batteries fully charged, sir," the gunnery officer reported. "Locking on to enemy Essex, ready to fire, sir."

"FIRE!" he commanded.

A brilliant display of no less than eight emerald colored laser beams cored into the nose of the enemy frigate. They dug into the armor, vaporizing it as if it weren't even there. Air started to leak out of the exposed areas of the ship, and electrical storms played all across the front of the now crippled vessel. Another volley of laser fire snapped the ship's spine and capsized it. Seconds later it exploded, leaving nothing but scraps of debris where it used to be.

"Keep moving forward!" Graff commanded. "Don't let them get the upper hand!"

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As the order was given, Hibiki was already launching in his Vanguard. Pushing his Vanguard at the point of the formation devised by Jura, he scanned the already engaged battle ahead. The chaos of battle made it hard to determine who was friend and foe just by visual, as they were both using similar ships and equipment. But every SDF ship, fighter and mecha had a friendly IFF code programmed into all of their computers, allowing them to tell the difference.

His attention was distracted as several missiles came flying in at him. He kicked his Vanguard downward, out of the missiles' flight path. The group of fighters that had fired at his just passed overhead, straight into the formation of Dread. Needless to say, they never stood a chance against their numerically superior Mejalean counterparts. They were torn to shreds in about ten seconds.

"Now, to find our target…" he said to himself, referring to the Indomitable, as it was named. The ship equipped with the Paksis Nullification Device.

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_Several hours earlier…_

The sun was beginning to rise over the mountain range, casting an orange glow over the area in which the two special operations teams were camped out, about six hundred meters from their target. As far as they could tell, no one had noticed them, yet.

Aidan lay prone on the ground, looking through a pair of electronic binoculars at the facility. The facility was of pretty substantial size, and it was also embedded into the rock outcroppings of the mountain range. As per the intel, the facility had a large wall made to look like it was part of the mountain itself. In the center of it, was a large reinforced concrete door. From the looks of it, it was the only way in. There was a guard post outside the wall, in which two guards in full body armor and carrying laser rifles were just standing around, obviously bored.

Getting up into a crouch, he slowly backed away from the ledge from where he was perched. Once he was sure he couldn't be seen, he climbed down to where the both teams had set up camp. He walked over to the rest of his teammates.

"What did you see?" Damon asked as he approached.

"Intel was correct for once," he said wryly. "There's a large, armored door, and it appears to be the only way in, besides from the air."

"So, do you think they'll just let us walk through the front door?" Deveroux asked sarcastically.

"Unless you want to climb several hundred meters of rock in these things," he replied, tapping the armor he was wearing. "Also, you'd have to haul all of your gear up there as well."

"So, what's the plan of getting in?" Hawkins, who was currently sitting, asked. He'd have to wait on an answer for that, as they were interrupted by Akida's approach.

"Sorry to interrupt you sir," Akida said. "We've detected movement along our outer search perimeter."

"What kind of movement?" he asked, concerned that this mission could be blown even before it began.

"It appears to be a group of twenty or so armed men," Akida replied. "And they're using typical search patterns. I think they may be looking for us."

"Damn," he muttered. "Get Lieutenant Kemp, I want to come up with a suitable ambush. We'll take them out before they know what hit them."

"Yes sir," Akida replied. "But there's one other thing."

"And that is?" he asked.

Akida leaned closer to Aidan, so it would be kept just between the two of them. "Our former commander is with them."

"I understand, good work," he said, patting Akida on the shoulder. "Now, go get Kemp."

"Marks!" he called, and one of the soldiers stood up. She walked over to him.

"Yes sir?" she asked.

"There's something I want you to do," he said.

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Julia Marks lie prone on an upper ledge, hidden from view, her sniper rifle pointing in the general direction from where the enemy soldiers were approaching. She, along with Akida, would be the first to see the enemy troops move into the kill zone. Aidan had given her a few specific tasks. First, was that she was to be the signal to start the ambush. Second, was a little different. He had told her who was with the enemy soldiers. That traitor of a former commanding officer.

She had no problem with killing a traitor, but Aidan wanted her to do something different from what she usually did. Normally, a sniper's objective was to eliminate his/her target in one shot, but she would just cripple him Aidan had wanted her to only wound him enough that he wouldn't be able to fight. She had no qualms about making that bastard suffer.

"Target approaching," Akida said in a forcer whisper, gaining her attention. "Fifth to the left."

"Got it," she replied in a similar voice. She zoomed in on the person Akida had specified. True to their words, that was the traitor. He looked like he was bored. She would make him pay for his lack of effort. She zeroed in on his chest, then adjusted her aim until she had a good shot at his right leg. With a calm, almost serene feeling, she squeezed the trigger…

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Meia was crouched behind one of the many rock outcroppings from where the teams had set up there ambush point. This was the first time she would be entering combat in a ground action, in nothing but armor and wielding firearms instead of heavier Dread weaponry. From what she could tell, the enemy was getting closer. Then the crack of a rifle sounded, signaling the start of the ambush.

She was a second slower than the rest of the soldiers in opening fire, as this wasn't her field of expertise. She centered her sights on one of the enemy soldiers and squeezed the trigger of her pulse laser rifle. It spat a series of ruby-colored beams out to it's target, which hit him high in the chest, burning holes through him He dropped unceremoniously to the ground, his chest still smoking.

As soon as it started, it was over. A little over twenty soldiers lay dead or wounded on the ground less than a hundred meters from her position. It was then she saw Aidan get up and walk to over to where the enemy soldiers lay. He was walking over to one that appeared to be wounded.

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His right leg screamed in pain. The bullet that had hit him shattered his knee, almost tearing it off. He lay there, helpless as the men under his command were slaughtered in front of his eyes. Not that he truly cared for their well-being, he saw them as nothing more than assets. And he'd just lost those assets to a small group of enemy soldiers that had set up a perfect ambush that he stupidly stumbled into. He coughed up blood, then saw one of the armored soldiers casually walking up to him, as if mocking him.

He attempted to raise the laser pistol in his left hand, he was going to kill that bastard for being so damn arrogant. Before he could even muster the strength to lift it, the soldier slammed his armored foot down onto his arm. He could feel the bone literally shatter as it was wedged between the armored boot and a rock. He screamed out in pain, as one usually did when one of there bones was completely shattered. He attempted to remove the man's leg from his left arm with his other arm, but couldn't get the strength to even move it. As another attempt at mocking him, the soldier leaned slightly and lifted his helmet's faceplate. Utter surprise, then rage swept over him as he recognized who it was.

"Mercer!" he spat vehemently at the man. "How did you-"

"How do you like it when somebody points a gun at you?" Mercer asked mockingly as he pointed a large handgun at his face.

"Don't you talk like that to me, boy," he spat, anger seething in every word.

"You look pitiful," Mercer said scornfully. "If there is a god, he must be laughing at you right now."

"You, shut the hell up!" he fairly yelled at him. "You have no right-"

"I have every right," Mercer interrupted. "For all the hell you put me through."

"Is this still about that mission?" he asked, once again coughing up blood.

"Partly," Mercer replied. "But I don't have to explain it to you, _traitor_."

"Even if you kill me," he spoke defiantly. "It won't help the people you've killed."

"Perhaps not," Mercer replied coldly. "But it will help get rid of one more demon."

"Go to hell, you shit!" he yelled in one last act of defiance.

"You first," Mercer replied, tightening his finger on the trigger. He didn't even have time to register the impact of the large bullet blasting through his brain, leaving what was left of it spattered around his corpse.

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Aidan stood over the lifeless form of what used to the traitor that had caused him so much misery. Finally, another demon had been exorcised, finally, the spirits of the family he'd killed could finally rest in peace. He stood there for a few seconds, then turned away in disgust from the rapidly stiffening corpse. The man had paid for his crimes, although it was too quick a death in his opinion. Not that it mattered much now.

"It's finally over…" he said quietly to himself as he walked past the rest of his team, who were standing nearby.

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"I found it!" Hibiki called out as he saw the massive form of the battle cruiser that was their target. For some reason or other, it was held back, apparently in reserve. That made little sense, unless they were holding the line in case of a breakthrough.

"Alright," Jura replied. "Stick to the plan, we'll attack it en masse, then bring it in range of the Nirvana's main weapon. Watch out for that device, don't let it use it."

"It looks like they aren't going to let us through," Barnette said, currently fighting off an enemy fighter.

Hibiki knew, from the amount of enemies from here to that ship, that this was going to be one hell of a fight…

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Getting close to the endgame. Not much longer before I can finish this and get to work on other fics.


	29. Chapter Twenty Eight: Infiltration

Disclaimer: I do not own Vandread. It belongs to Gonzo.

**Vandread: The Unknown Soldier (Revised)**

**Chapter Twenty-Eight: Infiltration**

_Location: Mountain Range. Five hundred fifty meters from Testing Facility. Two hours before start of space battle._

Keiji Akida lie prone, scanning the facility from a safe, hidden location. His objective was to locate a suitable entrance into the facility, with the least chance of being detected. So far, he was finding no such way in, and it was starting to wear on his patience. The facility was well protected against any such infiltration. Still, his orders were to find a way in, and that's what he was going to do.

Encased in the Falke light armor, which was painted in a camouflage pattern that matched the color of the terrain, he had very little chance of being spotted by all but the keenest of eyesight. He was just about to get up to report that he had yet to find a location, until he heard a distant, guttural sound. Bringing his weapon up, he slowly turned to face where the noise was coming from. Zooming in to a closer range, he spotted what looked like a supply truck, and it was also heading straight for the facility. A faint smile stole over his lips. He had just found their way in…

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"So, you're suggesting we should hijack this truck and use it to get into the facility?" Aidan asked, repeating what Akida had told him.

"I have found no other good way to enter the facility undetected," Akida said. "This seems to be the best way in."

"Okay," he replied. "How much time do we have to intercept the truck before it reaches the facility?"

"The truck will arrive near this area in about an hour," Akida replied.

"Alright, but how exactly do we capture the truck?" Meia asked.

He had noticed that she always had the faceplate of her armor up whenever they weren't doing anything. Given the fact that she was uncomfortable on the shuttle, and the armor, he assumed that she was a little claustrophobic. He just hoped that wouldn't interfere with her performance in the operation.

"Well, we need to acquire it without inflicting any damage to it," he said after a second of thought.

"So I guess taking it by force is out of the question?" Hawkins chimed in.

"It would be easy to take it that way," Damon replied. "But we risk damaging it, and therefore blowing our cover before we're even inside."

"So," Ria put in. "Which one of us is going to take the truck?"

"Now that you ask…" Aidan trailed off, getting an idea.

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"Jura, to your left!" Barnette called out as she noticed an enemy fighter bear in on her.

This battlefield was utter chaos, that was for sure. Hundreds of fighters, mecha, ships, and various kinds of weapon fire were all crisscrossing over this area of space that had become a literal battlefield. It was hard enough to keep track of her team. Add on to that fact that they had to take down a ship that was almost twice the size of the Nirvana, one created for the entire purpose of war. Not to mention the fact that that very ship mounted an anti-Paksis weapon.

Dodging enemy fire, she pulled her Dread into a tight turn that brought her up behind her intended target, the fighter who had fired upon her. It took her a few seconds to get a lock, and then she thumbed the trigger, sending out a score of missiles that spiraled in on the opposing craft. The pilot managed to pull away and avoid a few of the missiles, but the rest slammed into the tail and body of the fighter. The resulting explosions tore the fighter apart. Suddenly, several spears of light entered her field of vision, all apparently aimed at her.

"Damn!" she cursed as she just narrowly managed to avoid the hellish laser fire. That attack on the enemy fighter had brought her into the range of the Indomitable's weapons, and she was in trouble unless she managed to get farther away from it. Just then, another enemy craft cut her off. It was something she had never seen before. Bigger than a fighter, but much smaller than the smallest combat vessel. It looked menacing and armed to the teeth for a ship of it's size.

Then the gunboat opened fire on her. Kicking her fighter to the right, she managed to avoid most of the incoming fire, with only a few shots grazing her. Muttering another curse, she turned her fighter to come in the rear section of the craft. Centering her targeting reticule on the engines of the ship, she fired the three laser cannons that were mounted in each of her Dread's wings. The six combined laser blasts tore into the aft of the vessel, coring through the engines and into the fusion drive core that powered it. There was a bright, blue-white light that engulfed the back of the ship, then quickly overwhelming the rest of the gunboat.

She could feel the shockwaves of the explosion pound her Dread. Shaking them off, she moved quickly out of the way to avoid more fire that she knew was going to come her way.

"Seychelle," she said, naming one of the Dread pilots that were on her team. "Gather the rest of the team and prepare to make a sweeping pass on the Indomitable. And watch out for it's guns."

"Roger," came the pilot's response.

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Gunter Argust was pissed, really pissed. He had noticed the Mejalean pirate ship was in the middle of combat, but yet he couldn't currently engage it. Why was he being held in reserve? Especially when his ship had over twice the firepower of just about any ship currently out here, exempting the ships of the same class. He had been given specific orders to hold the reserve, just in case they break through the frontline.

He really wanted the pirate ship to close, so he'd have a chance to destroy them once and for all, using the PN Device. Another fact that pissed him off was that PN Device was malfunctioning, failing to work correctly. He knew that might be a possibility, but it still made him angry. He had given them the order to get it working as soon as possible. In the meantime, he'd just rely on the heavy firepower of his ship's weapons.

There was a slight rumbling throughout the ship, indicating that it had taken some hits, most likely from that destroyer off it's port bow. If that ship went ignored, it could some serious damage. He wouldn't let that happen.

"All portside batteries, target that damn destroyer, and FIRE!" he commanded.

The several portside cannons and lasers unleashed their hellish fury upon the smaller ship. The combined barrage broke the spine of the destroyer, causing it collapse in on itself, then explode a few seconds later. He grinned in satisfaction as he watched the ship's death. He took joy in knowing that he had just rid the universe of another group of feeble heretics.

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"Admiral! We've just lost the Sabre!" the combat controller fairly shouted.

Admiral Graff merely nodded and mentally noted the destruction of yet another ship, this time a destroyer. His primary focus was on the large warship that was several hundred kilometers in front of them. It was an Invincible Class, the same class as the Dauntless. It's original name was intended to be the Resolute, but was instead renamed the Divine Will by the E.D.A. forces who captured it.

It was the fourth ship of it's class. The first was named the Invincible, and was destroyed near the end of the war against Earth. Two others were developed soon thereafter, named the Indomitable and the Dauntless. The former was taken control of sympathizers and traitors already onboard it. The Dauntless, his ship, avoided capture because it was out on maneuvers during the seizure of the ship. The Resolute was taken over before it could officially embark on it's first mission. Now, he realized he was going to have to possible destroy one of the Dauntless' sister ships.

"All forward batteries, lock onto the Divine Will and prepare to fire when given the order," he commanded.

"Aye sir," the ship's chief weapons officer responded. A few seconds later, he spoke up again. "Locked on, sir. Awaiting your order."

"FIRE!" he bellowed.

At that very same moment, the Divine Will unleashed a barrage with equal intensity. The Dauntless shook violently under the assault, taking the brunt of the damage along it's nose. One of the shots got dangerously close to the bridge, causing a ceiling panel to fall, as well as overload a few computer terminals, showering the bridge with sparks. Small fires blossomed on the bridge, but were quickly put out by the fire suppression systems built into the ship. The Dauntless had just been hurt, but she was far from out of the fight. Graff knew that the effects had to be as equally devastating to the Divine Will. This was going to be a tough battle, but Graff had every intention on surviving through it, and coming out on top.

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Damon eyed the pair of guards at the gate as he pulled the truck up to the gate. The guard standing outside approached the truck as he pulled to a stop.

"You're late," the guard said. "You were due here an hour ago."

"Yeah, I know," Damon replied as he handed him the stolen identification card. "The damn truck broke down, and it took us the better part of an hour just to get it to run again."

Sitting next to Damon was Nick Hawkins. They were posing as the drivers because they were the ones that were close to even resembling them. They had captured the truck by having Ria pose as a hitchhiker. After the truck stopped, they took it quickly, killing the driver and his passenger bloodlessly within seconds. The uniforms Damon and Hawkins now wore were taken from those two men.

"Well, next time let us know, and we'll send someone to repair it properly," the guard said as he handed Damon back the stolen ID card, then motioned them forward.

"Will do," Damon replied as he waved a casual salute to the guard.

He started up the truck again, and drove into the compound. A few seconds later he heard the massive door shut again. He came to a stop inside one of storage buildings. He glanced at the rearview mirror and noticed someone approaching.

"Hey!" the person called. "You're supposed to head to Storage Bunker Six."

"Oops," he replied as he drew a handgun, pointed it at the man, and fired. "My bad."

That sent a signal for the rest of them, and the spec-ops soldiers bolted out of the back of the supply truck, quickly gunning down anyone inside the building. Once it was all clear, Aidan waved a signal to Damon and Hawkins. He opened the door and got out of the truck, and Hawkins did the same. Then they both climbed into the back of the truck, and with a little help, donned their armor. Once Damon had locked his helmet into place, he heard Aidan's voice through the comm.

"Alright, let's go over this one more time. Ghost One, you'll take Ghost Team and accomplish objective A: the downloading of all data files from their systems. My team will split into two groups. Spectre Two, you take Spectre's Three, Six, and Eight, and plant the explosives in the ammunition and supply bunkers. The rest of you are with me. Understood? Move out."

"Alright, let's go," Damon said as he gestured for, Steiner, Hawkins, and Deveroux to follow him.

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Another explosion rocked the ship, but BC rode it out as if it were nothing. Currently viewing the battle, he/she had noticed one thing. The Indomitable had yet to activate the P.N. Device, despite having a few good opportunities to do so. Apparently the Captain noticed as well.

"Why have they not activated the device?" Magno asked.

"I am not sure Captain," BC replied. "They certainly have had a few good chance to do so."

"Perhaps they're having a problem with it?" Magno suggested.

"That could be it, as it is the prototype," BC answered. "Dread Teams, you're orders are to destroy the Indomitable before it can activate the PN Device."

That set off a chorus of 'Rogers!' from the pilots as they confirmed the order.

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Just three more to go.


	30. Chapter Twenty Nine: Endgame, Part One

Disclaimer: I don't own Vandread.

**Vandread: The Unknown Soldier (Revised)**

**Chapter Twenty-Nine: Endgame, Part One**

_Location: Secret Weapons Facility Beta_

Making their way to the command center far more stealthily than would seem possible for a group of men wearing heavy armor. That just proved how well their training was paying off. That and the fact that so far, security seemed really lax for a place like this. But Lieutenant Garth Kemp knew not to rely on easy circumstances. He'd always been taught to expect the worst, and plan to avoid it, instead of thinking something easy. Still, the personnel at this facility probably believed that an attack on them was next to impossible. What a surprise they were about to receive.

Once his team made into the command center, they proceeded with extreme caution. No sense letting them know they were there before they could carry out their mission, and letting them call for reinforcements. The few personnel that had spotted his team of armored commandos had been quickly and quietly taken care of. They were acting like the team's namesake, moving around, leaving no trace of their movements. They were now just outside the large pair of doors that led to the central control room.

Using a series of hand signals, he moved his team into action. The two point men of the team barged through the door, and before the surprised occupants of the room could act, most of them were gunned down before they could act. The two guards, as well as a number of technicians, were killed in the brief firefight. None of his men were wounded or killed. He walked over to the main terminal, shoving a tech's corpse off of the computer, then started to access the files stored in it.

He brought up the information that was relevant to his mission. It contained a wealth of data on specifications and blueprints of various weapons, and even vehicles, including a prototype Striker design. After copying the information to a disc, he ordered his team to move out. Their primary objective was finished, and now it was time to get out of here. He ordered his team to move out, but before they left, one soldier tossed a couple of incendiary grenades into the room. That would destroy all evidence, as well as anything that could have been of any use.

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"Man, I'm startin' to get a little pissed off here," Hibiki muttered as he dodged even more fire. Vandread Dita took a few glancing hits from various fighter passes, but nothing anywhere near serious. They dished out far more than they received, blasting away yet another fighter that strayed too close to them. The Indomitable loomed before them, but as of yet have not activated that Paksis Nullification Device.

Hibiki and Dita flew their Vandread in to deliver a telling blow to the Indomitable, only to be deterred by an impressive barrage from the Indomitable's guns. They were forced to take evasive measures or be turned into so many atomized particles. Their choice to evade was clear, for neither of them were planning to die any time soon. They had to find a way to destroy this damn ship before it could activate that device.

"You ready?" he asked Dita.

"Yeah!" she replied as they proceeded to attack once more.

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"Admiral! Bulkheads sealed on decks eighteen through twenty!" the damage control officer reported.

Mentally noting the damage the ship, Admiral Graff concentrated primarily on the battle in front of him. As it stands, the Dauntless and the Divine Will were currently in a stalemate, each ship maneuvering to get into a better position while trading hellish fire with one another. Neither ship was able to get the upper hand against the other. He gave yet another order maneuver the ship out of the line of fire, narrowly missing a barrage from the Divine Will.

"Alright, it's time to end this…" he said. "FIRE!"

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Encased in heavy powered armor, Colonel Odom walked with the rest of his men to last known position of the turncoat and his men. What he walked into was the sight of a slaughter. Every one of that turncoat's men lay in some dead heap, taken out by spec-ops troops, he believed. Not one body of the enemy was ever found. He continued to scan over the carnage.

"Colonel! Over here!" one of his men called.

"What is it?" he replied as he walked his heavy armor over there. Once he was there, he saw it for himself.

Lying there in front of him, was the corpse of the turncoat commander himself. It appeared that he'd been killed execution-style, as most of his head was missing. Most likely he'd been shot while he was lying on the ground.

"Poor bastard," he said. _Whoever killed him saved me the trouble._

"What now, sir?" the soldier next to him asked.

"We head back to the facility, I believe that's where they headed," he replied. "We'll corner them and wipe them out."

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_Dammit, why couldn't I see it coming?_ Garth Kemp silently cursed himself as struggled to get up, but failing. Pain surged throughout his entire body, due to the fact that his emergency medical pack had been destroyed by that last hit. From what he could tell, as well as feel, he'd been hit at least three times. _Where'd those damn powered armor troops come from?_ That was a futile question now, as they advanced on his position.

His vision started to dim, and he noticed a black silhouette enter his failing vision. He still managed to tell that is was one of his men. "Sir, this is Private Cameron. Are you alright?"

"What does it look like?" he replied sarcastically, then immediately regretting it as it brought another of wave of pain. He took out the data disc, and handed it to Cameron. "Make sure Mercer gets this…"

"But, sir…" Cameron replied.

"I said get going, soldier!" he commanded, coughing up blood a second afterward.

Cameron nodded, gave him a quick salute, then left his field of vision. It wasn't long after that the life finally left his body.

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"You done yet?" Damon heard Deveroux ask Hawkins as he was setting the last of the explosives.

"No," Hawkins replied sternly. "You can't rush this kind of work."

"Cut the chatter," Damon ordered. "Steiner, notice anything?"

"Nothing," came Steiner's reply. "It's quiet…"

"Too quiet," he added. "Hawkins, as soon as you're done, we rendezvous with Mercer."

"Roger," Hawkins replied.

Hawkins was to plant explosives all throughout the facility weapons storage bunker and ammo dump. The reason for this was that it would cause a sympathetic detonation, taking out their stockpiles of weapons and ammo and causing a big enough blast to take this entire facility down.

As soon as Hawkins finished, they left the weapons storage bunker, and proceeded to make their way to the hangar. They were forced to stop when an armored personnel carrier came to a sudden stop about thirty meters in front of them. Acting purely on reflex, Steiner dropped to one knee and unslung the rocket launcher he was carrying. With a quick tap of the firing stud, he launched a single rocket at the APC as the rear ramp started to lower.

As the rear ramp was halfway down, the rocket corkscrewed into the passenger compartment. The end result was the quick deaths of about a dozen infantrymen, as well as the vehicle's driver. The explosion rocked the vehicle onto it's side, then engulfing the rest of it in a fireball. A second later another explosion rocked the ground, throwing Damon off his feet and roughly onto his right side. He could hear the sound of his armor scraping against the tarmac as he skidded at least a few meters.

It took him a few seconds to get to his feet, then figure out just what the hell happened. The explosion had come from a different direction than the one from the APC. That meant… He quickly snapped back to full alert and looked over the area. Hawkins was lying prone, Steiner was already on his feet, and there was no sign of Deveroux. He was gone…

Anger started to boil inside him as a pair of heavy, armored figures came into view, one of them mounting the still smoking barrel of a rocket launcher. Grabbing a hold of his gauss rifle, he quickly pumped at least four shots into the one that had fired the rocket that killed Deveroux and possibly Hawkins. The force of their impact knocked the armored soldier back. The next shot took him in the head, shattering his visor, and going through his head. The first of the enemy powered armor fell to the ground. Steiner finished off the other one with a shot to the head as well.

Damon took the time to check on Hawkins, who was still lying face down on the pavement. "Hey, Hawkins, you still alive?"

"Yeah," came the pain-tinged replied. "Damn, I think my med-pack is trashed. The shrapnel tore into my suit. It hurts like hell."

Damon helped Hawkins to his feet, then used himself as a support to help Hawkins move. Steiner took up position behind them, covering them in case anymore enemy soldiers showed up. "Come on, we need to meet up with Mercer, and the rest of the team."

_If they're still alive, that is…_

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"Dammit!" Aidan cursed as a hail of laser fire seared over his head, forcing him to duck behind cover. _This isn't going according to plan. Not at all._

He glanced over to where Ria DeMarco lay, blood pooling underneath her body. She'd fallen whenever a barrage of laser fire came from the half-open hangar doors. She'd been shot at least seven times, most of it catching her in the chest. She was dead before she even hit the ground. She'd been killed by a mere security force, even before any of them realized it._ What a damn waste._

"How do you suppose we get in?" Julia asked, her voice managing to carry over the crack of laser fire.

Before he could reply, he saw a three of his team approach their position, ducking under cover to avoid the enemy fire. As they got closer, Aidan noticed that one of his men was injured, using the other for support, and the third one behind them, covering them. _Wait a minute, where's the other? There should be a fourth._

"Report," he barked, as the trooper helped the injured one lean against the wall.

"We got hit one our way over here," Damon replied. "Deveroux's dead."

"Well then, what about the explosives?" he asked. "Are they in place?"

"All set to go, boss," the injured Hawkins replied. "Just press the button, and 'boom'."

"Any word from Kemp's team?" he asked, but got no reply. In this stressful situation, he'd dropped the use of their codenames.

He leaned over and returned fire, distracting the enemy by keeping their heads down.

"Aidan!" Meia called. "Over there!"

He turned his head to where she was pointing, and saw a lone soldier in the same type of powered armor he was wearing. That soldier made it up to their position as well.

"Private Cameron, sir," the soldier said.

"Where's Kemp?" Aidan asked.

"He's dead, sir," Cameron replied. "And so is the rest of my team."

"Did you complete your objective?" he asked.

"Yes sir," Cameron replied as he pulled out the disc and handed it to Aidan. "There's also a large group of heavy powered armor, and I believe they are headed here."

"Alright," he said, coming up with a quick plan in his head. "Damon, you take the rest of the team and get the hell out of here. Get to the shuttle, and tell them to lift off in fifteen minutes if I don't return."

"But-" Damon tried to protest.

"I said go!" he commanded. "Meia, you're staying with me."

"Understood," she replied as Damon and the rest of them started to move.

"I'm staying too," Steiner said. "You're going to need some help."

"Aidan, look!" Meia said, gesturing over to her left.

"Oh crap," he said as he saw what she was pointing at. A large group of powered armor troops were heading right for them…

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First part of Endgame finished. Just two more chapters to go. Feedback appreciated.


	31. Chapter Thirty: Endgame, Part Two

Disclaimer: I don't own Vandread.

**Vandread: The Unknown Soldier (Revised)**

**Chapter Thirty: Endgame, Part Two**

_Location: Bridge, E.D.A. Battlecruiser Indomitable_

Gritting his teeth as his ship shuddered under yet another assault, Captain Gunter Argust cursed the enemy ship that had fired upon him. How dare another ship get in the way while he was moving to engage that dreaded silver Mejaelean ship. He ordered yet another volley of laser fire at the silver vessel, only to have it slam into the shield protecting it. As he was about to give another command, one of the bridge crewman interrupted him.

"Sir!" the crewman reported. "Engineering reports that the PN Device is now fully functional."

"Excellent," he replied with a hint of satisfaction. "Activate it as soon as its charged."

"Yes sir," the crewman replied.

_The tables are about to turn…_

As soon as the device was charged, the crewman activated it. He watched as the blue energy field expanded around his ship, engulfing everything within a several kilometer radius. It obviously had no effect on any Solaris-made vessel, but when it struck the Mejalean ship, it's shields began to flicker, then they died. It looked almost as if the ship was dead, for it stopped moving. It also had an adverse effect on those fighters and that one humanoid machine.

Grinning in satisfaction, he gave another order. "All forward batteries, lock on and prepare to fire on the Mejalean vessel. We are going to finish this."

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"The shields are down!" Belvedere shouted. "The ship's systems are also refusing to respond!"

"Damn, this isn't good," Magno Vivan said aloud. "If they fire while we're like this, we're finished."

"All Dread Teams, fall back to the Nirvana!" BC ordered. "You are to defend this ship at all cost!"

Magno gritted her teeth as she saw the massive Indomitable loom ever closer. Several weapon ports started to glow an eerie red. The Indomitable was charging it's weapons for the final coup de grace. It was only a matter of time, and time was not on their side at the moment.

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Being one of the two supporting Hawkins as they helped half-drag, half-carry him, Damon glanced back over his shoulder. Back where Aidan, Steiner, and that woman were. Aidan had had told him to take the rest of the team and get out of here, and he had handed Damon the disc, to make sure they completed at least that objective. Choosing to stay behind to recover that fighter for that woman was worth his life? Did something happen to him that he felt that was his obligation? He hoped Aidan made it out alive, so he could ask him those questions.

He glanced behind one more time, and Cameron noticed the pause. "Something wrong?"

"No," he replied after a second. "It's nothing."

They continued to trudge their way out of the facility, narrowly missing detection from the encroaching enemy. They continued their trek until they made it to the extraction zone. Marks went to work setting up the beacon, which would send out a signal of their location on a specific frequency their shuttle was monitoring. He knew there was a very slim chance that Aidan and Steiner would make it out alive, but there was a chance.

A few seconds later the shuttle received the signal, and took off to pick them up at the designated location. As the shuttle hovered to a landing, it created strong gusts of wind that Damon did not feel through his armor. After it touched down, he gestured for Cameron to help him get Hawkins aboard and to safety. Marks and Akida waited until they got on board before they moved up the ramp.

"What about the rest of them?" the pilot asked as soon as the rear ramp locked into position.

"They still have an objective complete," Damon replied. "They told to leave without them if they don't return in fifteen minutes. We will pull out of this area as soon as that time is up, or if the craft is threatened by an enemy attack."

"Understood," the pilot replied.

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Another burst of gunfire muted the sound of laser fire, and took a soldier high in the chest. The resulting fire blasted through him, eliciting a spray of blood from his back. The soldier fell heavily to the pavement as his weapon clattered against the ground. The response came back with a little more intensity, with several laser bolts searing the air above Aidan's head as he ducked back under cover. What made matters worse was that a second group of soldiers were going to cut them off from the rear. And these troops had heavy firepower.

"I've had enough of these damned sniping games," Steiner spat angrily. "We should just force our way into the hangar."

"I agree," Aidan replied as he cocked the grenade launcher slung underneath his rifle. "I'll go first, you two, follow right behind. Let's move!"

Before they could get moving, the first powered armor soldier rounded the corner and raised his weapon. Reacting on pure instinct, he thumbed the firing trigger for the grenade launcher, sending the high explosive warhead straight for the armored soldier. It caught him in the chest and exploded, shattering the armor, but not completely penetrating. Before the force of the explosion knocked him off his feet, Steiner finished the job with a single shot from his gauss rifle. It penetrated the shattered armor easily, tearing through the soldier inside.

Aidan then turned his attention to the soldiers in front of him, firing several bursts from his automatic rifle. His resulting fire killed two more lightly armored soldiers, and wounded another. The rest of them took cover from the mere ferocity of the attack. One way or another, he was determined to make it inside the hangar…

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That last attack left the bridge of the Dauntless in shambles, and a cut on his head, but Admiral Graff didn't even flinch from his duty. His duty was to make sure they came out on top, and these Earther-loving extremists were ground into nothing. He suddenly noticed that the Divine Will was preparing to let loose another attack. He only had a few seconds to act.

"Helmsman! Hard to starboard!" he commanded in an effort to get out of the line of fire.

The helmsman repeated the order as maneuvered the ship into a hard turn, narrowly avoiding a barrage of laser fire that might have killed the ship.

"Return fire!" he ordered. The Dauntless let loose another barrage from it's surviving laser cannons, tearing into the side of the of the Divine Will. The resulting attack tore into the aft section of the ship, melting away armor and letting air bleed out of the exposed sections of the ship. It's laser batteries started to charge for another attack, but powered down and never fired.

"Sir!" one of the crewmen said. "Confirming engine and weapons shutdown. The Divine Will is dead!"

That set off a cheer throughout the bridge, and Graff let it continue for a few seconds before interrupting it. "We are still under battle alert. I want all onboard assault teams prepared to go, we are taking back that ship."

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As a young woman named Seychelle pulled her Dread into a tight turn to avoid an attack from a pursuing fighter, she heard the Commander's voice over the commline, as well as saw her on the digital screen on her fighter's instrument panel.

"All Dread Teams! Fall back and protect the Nirvana at all costs!"

Seychelle was a veteran of the several battles against the Harvesters whenever she fought them over a year ago. She had seen her fair share of battle and had even seen friends and comrades wounded and killed by the enemy. She could not completely understand why these people would fight for people who were willing to take away their body parts for their own selfish needs. Still, if these people sided with the Harvesters, they were the enemy, and you must defeat the enemy.

As she turned to fall back on the Nirvana, a laser blast grazed the side of her ship, shaking it violently. She was thrown violently around the cockpit, and she felt the slick wetness of blood run down her face as she hit her head. A wave of unconsciousness threatened to take her over, but she fought against it. She franticly checked the damage to her Dread. Her control thrusters had taken some damage, and she couldn't get the fighter to turn left. She figured she was going to die if didn't receive medical attention, and she couldn't stay still, so she turned her Dread to the right, breaking formation with the rest of them. She was going to stop that ship, or die trying.

"Seychelle!" Barnette, her Team Leader, yelled. "What are you doing? Get back into formation!"

"Sorry," she replied softly as she shut off her comm system. She gripped the controls, and kicked the fighter into over-thrust, sending on a straight bee-line for the massive enemy battle cruiser. She struggled to keep her fighter straight, despite the damage to the control system. She rapidly approached the warship, until it filled up her entire view. _I'm going to finish this…_

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Captain Argust watched with feral satisfaction as he was about to deliver the death blow to that cursed Mejalean ship. He knew he'd be praised for the destruction of that ship, praised as the one who had destroyed Earth's greatest enemy. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a damaged enemy fighter was on a direct course for this ship. He gave it no mind. What was a damaged fighter to an Invincible Class battle cruiser? But the fighter started to grow bigger in view, and it was headed straight for the bridge of this ship. His eyes widened in horror as he realized what that insane pilot was going to do.

"All guns, shoot down that damn fighter! Do it now!" he yelled in panic. His order came to late, for the fighter was too close for the Indomitable's weapons. "Aww, shit…"

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The Dread slammed into the bridge of the Indomitable, seconds later exploding, vaporizing the entire crew that was present on the bridge. It basically removed the 'head' from the ship, leaving it defenseless for a short period of time. Magno Vivan watched in grim fascination as further explosions tore through the bridge of the once mighty vessel. But the cost of destroying that ship was too high, in her opinion. The death of a good pilot, one of her best. Without warning the power onboard the Nirvana came back online.

"The systems just powered back up!" Belevedere reported.

"We have power back to the shields," Amarone stated.

"Bart!" Magno yelled as Bart jumped back into the helm.

"Take this, you bastards!" Bart yelled as he acquired a lock-on to the now crippled ship. The numerous cannon lining the Nirvana's body let loose their hellish fire, all predominately aiming for the battle cruiser. The weapon surprised many an SDF pilot, as the beams curved around them, only tearing into the enemy craft, then converging on the Indomitable.

With ferocity, the beams tore and gouged into the armor all over the ship. A few seconds later, the ship's massive fusion reactor cascaded, engulfing the entire vessel in a massive blue-white fireball. Another E.D.A. ship was crippled because it was too close to the massive warship when it exploded. The entire crew on the bridge let out a cheer of excitement as they witnessed the incredible death of the warship.

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Corporal Daniel Harwell motioned for the prisoners to get moving. Most of the crew of the Divine Will that they had taken alive were dejected, but held themselves up in defiance of their captors. He motioned with the business-end of his rifle for them to keep moving. Suddenly one of the captives shoved one of their captors out of the way, then drew a gun he had hidden somewhere on his person. He had no time to mess with this man, so he took aim with his rifle and fired. The bullet took the man in the head, knocking him back against the wall, spattering his blood all over that same wall.

"Anyone else wanna play hero?" he asked with grim sarcasm, leveling his rifle at the prisoners.

Silence was the only reply. "Thought so…"

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"Get down!" Aidan yelled as he shoved Meia out of the way. The laser bolt that was intended for her took him in the left shoulder, knocking him off-balance. She got back up, and helped Aidan to his feet. She looked back over to see the person who fired at them crash to the ground, a victim of Steiner's gauss fire. They didn't have much time to act, for the enemy was getting bolder by the second.

"Are you alright?" she said loud enough for him to hear over the gunfire.

"Yeah," he replied. "But my damn arm's locked up. I can't move it."

"You two!" Steiner called. "Go on! I'll hold them off!"

Aidan nodded, then tossed Steiner his gauss rifle, which she had noticed that Aidan had never even used this entire time. He then said something that she made very little sense of, but Steiner seemed to understand. "Steiner! Es wird eine Ehrenumhüllung Ihnen gewesen." _It's been an honor serving with you._

"Selben hier," Steiner replied. _Same here._

With that little exchange, they basically left, with Aidan and her moving into the hangar under Steiner's cover fire. She knew with grim certainty that Steiner would be overwhelmed, and eventually killed. Aidan apparently knew it too.

"What'd you say to him?" she asked Aidan.

"I'll tell you later," he replied. "Right now, we have a job to do."

"Right," she replied. She looked around, and noticed her Dread resting in a gantry. From the looks of it, they had fully repaired it. _At least they did something useful._

Using his free hand, Aidan drew his handgun and gunned down a couple of men who attempted to fire on them It took them only a few seconds to make to the foot of the gantry upon which her Dread sat. She then realized something.

"I can't pilot my Dread while wearing this."

"Well, then take it off!" Aidan said bluntly. She could tell by the tone of his voice that he was not trying to be rude, as they were in a stressful situation. "I'll cover you."

"Alright," she replied as she handed him her rifle. She then unhooked and took of her helmet. Dropping to the ground, she tapped the stud on her suit's arm that would unlock it and allow her to egress. Meanwhile, Aidan was using her rifle one-handed, firing on anyone that was foolish to attempt to fire on them.

After she exited the armor, all she had on was the sensor suit. Aidan started to take off his, as well. His was a little more problematic, as his suit's left arm was damaged. After he managed to struggle out of his armor, he moved over to her. It was then she realized something else.

"What about you?" she asked. "You're coming with me."

"Sorry," he replied. "But I'm not."

"Why not?" she asked.

"Because there is something that I have to do," he replied. "And besides, I can't fit into your fighter."

"But I can't just leave y-" she found herself interrupted by Aidan embracing her and kissing her on the lips. At first, she was surprised, and she almost forgot to breathe. A feeling washed over her that she had never felt before, and her heart felt like it had skipped a beat. They remained like that for several seconds, before Aidan released, and motioned her to her Dread.

"Now get going," he commanded. "And don't worry, I'll find another way out. I promise."

"You better keep that promise," was the only thing she could manage to say as she made her way up to her Dread. She climbed into her cockpit, and activated her Dread. As the canopy closed, she took one last look down at him. She activated the Dread's thrusters, and broke free of the gantry. Blasting free of the hangar, she flew right over the troops who were advancing on the hangar.

After she had broken free of the atmosphere, she had noticed that there had been a massive space battle up here. It was then that she noticed the Nirvana. She keyed her comm system on the frequency used by them. "This is Meia.'

"Meia?" an astonished voice came over the commline. She recognized it as the Captain's voice. "Where the hell have you been?"

"It's a long story, I'll tell you later," she replied. After she broke the connection, she touched her lips with the tips of her fingers. What was this feeling? Could it be that she actually was in love with him? For one, she hoped that he made it out alive, so she could figure out exactly what these feelings mean.

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Aidan watched as Meia's Dread managed to blast free of the hangar, and escape into the sky. He knew that he had accomplished that objective. Now he had something else to do. He walked over to his armor and reached underneath the left forearm. He grabbed hold of what appeared to be a lever, gave it a simple twist, and pulled it free of the suit. He then picked up the pulse laser rifle that Meia had been using, and proceeded to look around for something to escape in. There! He noticed what appeared to be a Striker standing in a gantry, several meters to his right.

Without a second thought, he ran over to it. He quickly climbed the gantry and climbed into the open cockpit. Once he was in the seat, he shot and sealed the cockpit hatch. He tossed the rifle into the small space back behind the seat, and started to bring the machine online. Even after starting it up, he couldn't manage to get it to move. He looked around to see if he could find something to bring this thing completely online. He noticed the compartment where one would store the pilot suit.

Inside, he noticed that there was a pilot suit in there._ Maybe it'll work if I put this on._ After a few seconds of struggling, he managed to change out of his sensor suit and into the pilot suit. He turned around and grabbed the helmet off the rack up behind his head. After he got the helmet in place, he tried starting it up again. Once he got the thing started, a computerized female voice spoke up.

"_Brainwave Pattern Synchronization Complete. Neural Interface System has been activated. Releasing Weapon and Actuator Controls to Pilot."_

"What the hell…" he muttered. "That isn't normal."

Once he freed himself from the gantry, his machine started to take fire from the powered armor soldiers that made it into the hangar. He looked around for a weapon control, and noticed a weapon labeled, 'Close-Combat Automatic Weapon'. He brought the weapon online, turned the machine's head, and fired.

A stream of armor-piercing shells tracked up and into the enemy soldier, literally cutting him in half. Another one attempted to climb the machine's left leg, and he just kicked it off and into the gantry._ Time to get outta here._

He kicked the thrusters of the machine into high-gear and managed to exit the hangar. Once clear of the hangar, he grabbed hold of the detonator, and pressed the stud. A chain-linked series of explosions tore through the facility, until nothing was left bur a massive pile of rubble.

"Now," he said as he used the powerful backpack thrusters of his machine to launch himself into the air. "Time to keep my promise."

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I would have had this up Friday, but unfortunately the site wasn't letting me upload the dang thing. Expect the Epilogue sometime this week. Feedback is appreciated.


	32. Epilogue: Aftermath

Disclaimer: Haven't I made myself clear already?

**Vandread: The Unknown Soldier (Revised)**

**Epilogue: Aftermath**

_Location: Nirvana, Currently in orbit around Solaris._

It was over. The final battle for control of the planet called Solaris was finally over. The battle had been close, but with the crippling of their flagship and the destruction of the other ship of the same class, the will of the E.D.A. had been broken. All that remained was to mop up any resistance left, and to see to repairs and the wounded.

At least, that was what she was told on her way towards the Nirvana. Even though it was pretty much over, still one thought worried her. It was about Aidan. _What happened to him? Did he make it out alive?_ She certainly hoped so, because she wanted to figure out just what these feelings meant.

She opened the canopy of her Dread and started to make her way down to the hangar floor. Before she knew it, she was literally tackled by Misty only seconds after touching the floor. She looked at Misty, who had tears welling up in her eyes. "Dear Sister, I'm glad you're alright!"

"I missed you, too, Misty," she said, putting a hand on Misty's head to comfort her.

"And just where have you been?" Jura huffed. "You just go off and force me to be the one in charge for a huge operation."

"I'm sorry," she apologized as she got up. "It's a long story…"

"What is that you're wearing?" Barnette asked. "I've never seen it before."

"Oh," she said, glancing down at her current attire. "I believe it's called a sensor suit."

Before anyone else could say anything, Maria walked up to her. "Where's Aidan? I thought he was with you."

"I was shot down while doing simple reconnaissance," she started off. "He decided to come along of his own free will, despite being injured. We were stranded on some planet, then captured by EDA soldiers not long after."

"You were captured?" Maria said in disbelief.

"Yeah," she replied. "But soon after that an SDF warship attacked and captured the ship on which we were being held."

She then continued by telling them the rest of what she and Aidan had been through, although omitting some of the more personal details.

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Checking his sensors once again, Thomas 'Eagle-Eye' Ingram reported that there currently was no hostile movement in his search area. He was part of a two-man Striker team that was currently babysitting a rescue and recovery ship. He was still quite young, being only twenty-two, but he had seen some of the hardest fighting in this so-called 'civil war'. He had been wounded during an earlier battle, depriving him the use if his left eye. Due to the need of pilots, and because he still wanted to serve in the military, the medics had replaced his ruined eye with a bionic one.

Due to the replacement eye's cold and lifeless look, as well as his excellent gunnery skill, was the reason he had received the nickname. He continued to check his sensors, still not finding anything threatening.

"All clear here," his partner, Natalie, reported. "What about you, Tom?"

"Same here," he echoed. "It's quiet…"

As soon as he said that, a seemingly dead fighter activated it's thrusters, speeding away as fast as it could. The fighter registered as hostile on his IFF. He turned his fighter just see it speed off in the direction of the Mejalean ship. He started his pursuit of the bandit.

"Natalie, you guard the transport," he said. "I'll take of this."

"Roger," came her reply.

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Meia stood on the bridge, in the middle of explaining herself to the Captain and Commander when an alarmed shout rang out across the bridge.

"Captain!" Belvedere reported. "Enemy fighter approaching!"

Just then, an anger-filled shout wounded through the comm-line. It was a male voice, presumably the pilot of that fighter. "You heretics can all just DIE!"

"Captain, I think he intends to ram us!" Amarone said as the image of the rapidly approaching fighter appeared onscreen.

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Already in pursuit of the fighter, Thomas Ingram was having trouble keeping up, due to the fact that the fighter was built primarily for speed, whereas his machine was built for general combat. The fighter was on a straight course for the Mejalean ship, and from the broadcast from it's pilot, appeared hellbent on ramming it. He started to take aim, and once he got a lock, his finger started to tighten on the firing trigger.

Only to have it blocked by another rapid target that suddenly entered his field of fire. It looked like Striker, and it attacked the fighter with an automatic rifle. A series of shells hammered the fighter, causing it to spin off course, only to crash into debris from a destroyed warship. The unknown Striker slowed to a stop, and turned to face him.

"Identify yourself," he commanded the unknown soldier. From the look of it, it wasn't like any Striker he'd ever seen. It had a far more menacing look to it, and it didn't even register on his IFF.

"Hold your fire, soldier," the pilot said. "I am Captain Aidan Mercer. I'm with the Special Forces, 4th Detachment."

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As the communications channel that the two soldiers were using wasn't readily available to the crew of the Nirvana, they had no idea of who the pilot of this new Striker was. After a few seconds, the Striker flew towards the Nirvana, and stopped within several hundred meters of the bridge. The comm system came to life as the pilot spoke up, and his image came up onto the screen.

"Permission to come aboard?" the pilot asked, and Magno knew who the pilot was even though his face was partially masked by the helmet he was wearing.

When she glanced over at Meia, she saw an emotion from her that she tried to hide, but failed miserably. She had never seen Meia act like that, and she immediately suspected that something had happened between the two of them in their absence from the Nirvana. She turned back to the pilot's image.

"Permission granted."

"Thank you, Captain," he replied.

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Meia was one of the first into the hangar after Aidan's Striker had just kneeled. She was relieved that he was alive. When she had left, there was no apparent way for him to escape, as he was being surrounded by a large amount of enemy soldiers. And she also knew that he had set off the explosives, because she had heard a faint roar a few seconds after she had escaped. He had found a way out of there.

There was a hiss as the cockpit situated in the chest of the humanoid machine opened. Dressed in a black and red flight suit, Aidan climbed out of the cockpit and jumped down to the deck. He stood there for a few seconds, then took off his helmet. She briefly recalled when she had first seen his face, after he took off his helmet on the Artemis. He walked through the small crowd of people until he stood less than a meter away.

"I told you," was the only thing he said, but she understood its meaning. A few others that heard what he had said had slightly puzzled looks on their faces.

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"Dammit, I hate ceremonies," Aidan muttered as he buttoned the collar on his dress uniform.

"Aidan," Damon said as he shut his locker. "There's something I've wanted to ask you."

"Shoot," he replied.

"Why did you stay behind back there?" Damon asked.

"What do you mean?" he asked, glancing over at Damon.

"You know what I mean," Damon said. "Why did you stay behind while you ordered the rest of us to evac? Was it for that woman? What made you decide to do that for someone who isn't even part of your nation?"

"Well, I'm not totally sure," he replied as he made sure the saber was securely fastened to his belt. He then made his way out of the locker room, pausing briefly in the doorway. "But she seems to be a lot like Sakura."

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To describe her as nervous would be an understatement. Maria tried to mentally prepare herself for what she was about to do in just a few minutes. In a surprising and unorthodox move, she had been chosen to lead the nation that her father did before his death. The future of this war-torn nation would be up to her. She could already feel the responsibility weighing down on her. She did not know how to exactly go through with this, but she knew that she needed to. If not for her, then for the people she was going to lead.

"It's almost time," an attendant informed her.

"Thank you," she replied. "I'm almost ready."

In a few minutes she would be giving her speech, and she would be as ready as she could ever be. Even though, she still had a serious case of butterflies in her stomach. Her speech would be broadcast all over the planet, as well as to a large group of people in the newly repaired space station. This space station was named after the founder of the planet Solaris, Gloria. It was also to be a ceremony to honor the soldiers, primarily to those who died fighting for their nation. Once she received word, she composed herself and walked out onto the stage.

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"So, she decided to rename the Solaris Federation to the Solaris Republic," Damon said. "Who'd knew she pull that one?"

"Still, I thought that was a good idea," Aidan replied. "It'll help foster unity and pride during the rebuilding of this nation."

"Hey, Aidan," Meia called as she walked up to the both of them as they were looking out one of the station view ports.

"Well," Damon said after he saw her approach. "I've got something to do, I'll see you later."

Damon left as Meia walked up to where Aidan was standing. They both stood there for several long seconds before either of them spoke up.

"So, what happens now?" Meia asked.

"What do you mean?" he responded.

"Well…" she said, trailing off.

"Chances are I might be reassigned," he said. "As they are completely reorganizing the military structure. But for now, I'm on something of a vacation. Why, are you leaving?"

"No," she replied. "At least not right away. The Captain never did specify when we were going to leave."

"Well," he said, looking down at his home planet below. "If you aren't leaving right away, would you to make a little trip down to the planet? There's a few things I gotta do."

"I don't see why not," she replied.

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The sky was set in a dull gray overcast, but Aidan was used to it. For at least half the year, the sky always seemed to be on the verge of rain. Although rain was very unlikely at this time of year. Even though it was early September, according to the calendar, it was winter. On Solaris, the seasons were different, and winter was a few months early than what was the norm on Earth, before that planet drastically changed.

As a result, he was forced to wear a jacket. Meia, who had accompanied him, wore similar attire. She wasn't wearing her pilot uniform, but instead was wearing clothes that used to belong to Sakura. In fact, that was the reason he was here, to visit her, to visit Sakura. He stepped up to the grave marker that had her name on it.

"Hey, Sakura," he said in a soft voice, something normally unlike him. "It's been three years, and I apologize for not visiting you a little more often."

He laid a hand on her marker, and it felt old to the touch, even though his gloved hand. "You were the first person I truly cared about, and gave my life any meaning at all. When you were taken from me, I thought I had nothing left to live for. I was wrong."

He struggled with his emotions for a few seconds, then regained his composure. "You taught me one thing, to never give up, even when things go terribly wrong. I have to go, but rest assured, I'll never forget you or the time we spent together." He placed the flowers he was carrying down in front of her grave. "Happy Birthday, Sakura." He then drew himself up, with perfect military precision, and saluted.

Just then, he looked up into the sky, and saw tiny white flakes slowly float down from the sky. It had started to snow. He smiled, then glanced back down to see Meia , also looking up at the snow starting to fall.

"Let's go," he said.

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Glancing over the information on the computer screen in front of him, he couldn't help but find the information useful. "So, they are away from here, and probably won't get back for at least another month. I could use that to my advantage."

"It seems it is time to enact the plan," he said, bringing up even more information.

The Prime Minister of Tarak smiled. _It will all begin very soon…_

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Finally finished. Let me know what you think. Now I can concentrate on The Perfect Weapon and the sequel to this story.


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